Forces Collide
by Kirabaros
Summary: It's been five years since Jake left Jericho behind. Now he's back and finds that some things never change especially an old friend who has his back. Then the bombs fall...
1. Chapter 1

**Forces Collide  
**

**Chapter 1**

It had been five years, five years since Jake had left Jericho, leaving behind pain, memories and regrets. The memories had been the clichéd good, bad and ugly with some having more prominence than others. During those five years, he had come to add more regrets to the ever growing pile and was the foremost in his mind as he drove down the old familiar highway towards the place he called home. In his mind that word brought a lot of implications as he spotted a familiar truck and old friends.

Stanley Richmond hadn't changed a bit in Jake's eyes as he greeted his old friend. Stanley's greeting was a little more enthusiastic. Stanley asked, "Jake, where've you been?"

Jake looked at Stanley and gave a shrug, "Around."

"Jake, no one's been around for five years," Stanley looked at his old friend. Jake Green and he used to have the best of times. They always hung out together growing up and then five years ago Jake left. Now he was back.

Jake knew that more was expected out of him. After all this was Stanley. Trouble was there were some things that he wasn't ready to share. He gave the first response that came close to the truth, "The army."

The conversation was a little stiff after that but Jake made it through. He did take notice that there was someone in a suit that looked very out of place. He learned that she was from the IRS. He felt bad for Stanley since the Richmond place was one of the largest and oldest ranches in Jericho. Bonnie had grown up in the five years that he had been away. It was a testament to how much things had changed since he left.

He bid Stanley farewell and headed towards town. It was inevitable that he would meet Gracie since she owned the store. Jake couldn't help but give a wry smile as he pulled up in front of the store. Things had changed but there were some that didn't. That was evident when he went in and bought a few things and was standing right in front of Gracie.

"So Jake, what have ya been doing with yourself?"

Jake remembered how much of a gossip Gracie could be. There were a few times he had gotten in trouble for buying certain things and Gracie blabbed about it to his parents. Looking back, some of those times were misunderstandings and actually fun to laugh at. Knowing Gracie's tendency to gossip, Jake decided to have a little fun. He smiled and whispered, "I've been playing minor league baseball."

The reaction was worth the fact that he started the rumor. It didn't matter anyway since most people thought him to be a screw up. He smiled as he collected his purchases and headed back to the car. He took a moment to take a breather since the moment of truth was coming.

It had taken a series of incidents as well as the pile on of regrets that pushed Jake to the point of making the decision to return home. His departure left a mess that his father had to clean up and he regretted that but he was also angry then too. He was the rebel bad boy and looking back, it was hard for him to figure out why. That was in the past though but it was bound to come up since that seemed to be the thing with the Green family; they never let you forget anything. Oh well, it was time to bite the bullet.

It was easier to sneak into the back. Hell Jake had plenty of practice in that department. The family dog was the first to see him and came to greet him as he saw his mother through the screen. She was just as he remembered and that was one of the regrets he had when he left. At least he could attempt to make some of it right. He opened the door and set the box of sweets on the counter and tried to anticipate his mother's reaction.

Gail Green went through each day as best as she could, however that was hard when she didn't know how her eldest son was. When he left five years ago, it was like he slammed the door shut on his life in Jericho. No calls, no nothing was the norm to live with. She never gave up hope that he would one day walk through the door.

Something told her to turn around and she obeyed the impulse. Seeing Jake, it was like a dam had burst. "Oh Jake. Oh you're home!" She grabbed her son in a hug and squeezed, not wanting to let go.

It felt good to be hugged by his mother again. It was like five years ago didn't happen. It did say something though when he felt like the air was rushing out of his lungs. "You're choking me Mom."

Gail lessened her hold but still held onto Jake. She kept hugging him and stepping back to look at him. After five years of worrying… she was glad that he was home.

"I thought I heard an annoying voice."

Jake looked up from his mother to see his younger brother Eric. He could still sense some tension between them. Five years did nothing to erase that. Still Jake could afford a smile and the honest truth was that he did miss his brother. He gave Eric a hug and let his mother take in the both of them. He was distracted by footsteps running.

"Mrs. Green, do you need help with…"

Jake couldn't believe it. Staring back at him was a girl roughly twelve years old. She had dirt blonde hair, more brown than blonde and dark brown eyes. He remembered spindly legs and scabby knees but here was a young girl who had gone through a growth spurt. He stood there looking at her, unable to form a coherent thought.

Gail saw the look on Jake's face. Out of all the people who knew about Jake, there were two people in his life that never though bad of him no matter what he did. It was an awkward moment since she was sure that Jake was remembering the seven year old that would beg him for a piggy back ride and had pigtails instead of curls. She smiled and said, "Jake, you remember Ryan."

Of course Jake remembered. He replied, "Yeah. Hey Ry."

Ryan stood there looking at the man that left when she was seven. She thought that she would never see him again and she cried the day he left. She was never mad at him for leaving but she kept hoping that he would come back. Now he was back and it was a surprise, probably the best that came her way. When he called her by the nickname that he gave her, she couldn't help it. She smiled and ran towards Jake and gave him a hug. "Jake, you're back! I missed you."

_I missed you too kid and your sister._ Jake took the hug in. If Ryan was here that meant her sister was nearby. That was a meeting he wasn't sure if he was ready to go for. Hell when he saw Emily again, that was awkward. He smiled though, genuinely happy to see his Ry again. "I missed you too Ry. You've grown since I last saw you." Jake took her by the shoulders and stood back to get a good look at her.

"I hit a growth spurt after you left," Ryan replied pleased. "You did say that I grew bigger when you weren't around."

"So I did," Jake replied. He felt regret come again. He was going to break her heart since he had to get back. She would probably hate him for that. He knew he would.

More footsteps sounded and as everyone turned to look, Jake noticed Ryan's expression become somber. It was no secret that people thought he was a bad influence on Ryan but as Jake saw it, she would never be like him. Everyone told her to stay away but she kept coming anyway. Jake figured that she felt that she was in trouble for even hugging him. Jake looked up at the source of that expression and looked at his father's face for the first time in five years.

~0~0~

It felt like he was a kid again sitting in the living room, facing his father. Jake knew though that he was going to have to bite the bullet and take it. If he was going to make his life work, he had to present his case. He looked at his father and said, "Look Dad, I'm not here to interfere with your campaign. All I want is your signature, then I will visit Grandpa…"

"After five years Jake, that's all you have to say to Dad…"

Jake looked at Eric. The familiar look of self righteousness was making itself known. He replied, "That's none of your business Eric…"

Johnston Green sat there looking at his eldest boy. He could admit that he was glad that his son was alive and well but there were some things that were hard to let go. All he could see was the lies and broken trust in Jake. It was time to play tough love. "It is his business. It's all our business. What you put this family through…"

"Johnston for God's sakes."

Johnston looked at his wife. He knew it was hard on her just as it was on him. Yet he couldn't allow her to coddle Jake. His son had to grow up. "Well he could have been…"

Jake knew where this was going. He interrupted, "We could spend a week talking about what I could have been alright, Dad. I've apologized and I've made amends." _Mostly._ "I have a plan but I need my money to make a clean start."

"It's not your money. It's your grandfather's money," Johnston countered.

"I know Dad but Grandpa gave it to me for a reason."

"And he gave me authority over it for a reason. You convince me that leading a more productive life."

"That's right Jake. Maybe you can do the right thing and leave Ryan alone."

For Jake it was a lot of restraint to not punch his brother in the face. He controlled his features and looked at Eric, slightly narrowing his eyes and replied, "We were both born on third base. Quit pretending that you hit a triple and leave Ryan out of this."

"It's hard to since she alone seems to think that you're the best thing next to her sister," Johnston replied. He really couldn't see how little Ryan Harrison would just unconditionally accept Jake. She had seen the results of his actions.

"Maybe she is a better judge of character than we give her credit for," Jake replied. He often wondered that himself.

"I think it's best though that you kept your interaction to a minimum."

"Dad, when are you going to realize that I'm thirty-two years old?" Jake looked at his father. His father was seriously suggesting that he not see Ryan? That was the plan since he needed to head back but he wasn't going to leave her crying like he did when she was seven.

Johnston looked at his son. There were a hundred things he wanted to say but he couldn't. Jake had to learn what it meant to be a man. "When you do." He then got up and walked out of the living room.

Jake realized that his appeal wasn't going to work. He had a feeling it wouldn't work but he followed the advice the same person gave him every time she bailed him out of trouble. He tried and he had been rejected. It was his fault though and five years hadn't been enough. He stood up and let out, "Can I talk to my Mayor then?"

Gail sat by silent. She knew that it must have taken a great deal of courage for Jake to come home and face his father. He had changed and she could tell. For one thing he held his temper. Jake was like his father and grandfather: stubborn, proud and impulsive when their tempers got the better of them. Plus Gail suspected that Ryan's unconditional acceptance held Jake firmly on the ground even when things went as far as they did; that and her sister. This had been hard on everyone and she hoped that Jake would see that his father was doing only what he thought was best. She stood up and placed a hand on Jake's shoulder, knowing that it would temper anything he was about to say. She said, "Let's go see your grandfather."

Jake looked in the direction his father went and then glanced at his mother. He looked at Eric before turning towards the way he came in. It only seemed fitting after that. He was used to going out the back. He was kind though to lessen his stride so his mother could keep up.

~0~0~

Five years and in that time that passed and he was gone, Jake had seen his little Ry shoot up like a weed. Bonnie had grown taller too. Jericho as a town didn't change much and yet one of the few people who understood him was now gone. He stared at the headstone that had his grandfather's name on it. It was something that just seemed surreal and yet part of that pile of regrets.

Jake couldn't help it. "I… I just…"

"You would have been here if you could," Gail replied. She knew how close those two were and the scrapes that they would get into. Oh the elder Green was a sweet talker and Gail was sure that he taught Jake all his tricks.

Jake appreciated the gesture from his mother. It said a lot with few words. Hindsight was definitely 20/20 at best. He looked up and scanned the horizon. Aside from him and his mother, there was one other person at the cemetery. The person was too far away to see details but he could make out the figure of a woman.

Gail saw him staring. She could tell him but then again, Jake was the kind to make the first move when it came to her. She waited.

"Did someone else… pass away Mom?"

Gail could tell him now. "Just a week ago. Car accident."

Jake watched the woman staring down at the grave she was looking over. "Who was it?"

"Paul and Rachel Harrison," Gail replied. When Jake turned to look at her, she nodded and replied, "Ryan's parents."

Jake couldn't believe it. "What happened?"

"They were heading to Denver to spend some time together. You remember the marriage was a little rocky. They decided to try and rekindle it. They left Ryan with us." Gail paused. It was a terrible thing. She remembered Ryan and the tears that followed and the ordeal that went through trying to contact her sister. Still Jake had to know. "It was a semi. The driver fell asleep. Paul and Rachel didn't have a chance. The driver died later of his injuries."

"What happens to Ryan?"

"Well it was decided that she be placed with us until her closest living relative was contacted. It took three days but we were able to contact Sari and she came. Sari will be looking after her." Gail studied the expression on Jake's face.

Jake couldn't believe it. Ryan's parents were gone and Sari was left to raise her sister… well half sister. He knew that she would do it. She was always the responsible one. Then something occurred to him. "It took three days to find her?"

"It's not easy Jake to find someone in the middle of nowhere doing whatever was asked of her."

"So she finally did that Peace Corps thing she always wanted to do?"

"Not exactly," Gail replied. "When she stopped by the house, she was a little quiet about that. She was more concerned about Ryan."

"Sari always was responsible. She tried to get me into those habits and never quit trying," Jake replied as he looked at his mother. "She kept at it up until the day I left. I'm guessing she was the one to tell Ryan not to be mad at me?"

Gail wasn't sure of what to say. Should she tell Jake that Sari was the one who comforted Ryan until she decided to leave or rather Paul took advantage of the situation and drove her out of Jericho? Gail knew that Jake didn't like the fact that Sari bore the insults out of love and devotion to Ryan and her mother. Did Jake know that he was Sari's shield from Paul's verbal abuse?

As it turned out, Jake didn't require an answer. He just looked at the solitary figure staring at the tombstone. She was wearing a black coat, a duster or some sort. In fact she was dressed like she would be for a funeral. The surprising thing was that she was wearing dark sunglasses, like she was trying to hide her emotions. "When did she get here Mom?"

"Today actually," Gail replied. "Sari was coming from Europe I think. I can say though that Ryan was glad to see her."

Jake listened as he watched Sari. They had been friends once. Why she picked him to be a friend, he would probably never understand but she always had his back. No matter what he got into, she always found a way out. Jake couldn't even count the times she kept him out of serious trouble that his father didn't know about. Then five years ago that changed but she stuck by him still.

"You should go talk to her."

Jake snapped out of his thoughts to look at his mother. "What?"

"It's been five years Jake. After you left, she left."

"She left Ryan behind? She wouldn't do that Mom."

"Paul ran her off," Gail admitted. "You know that he was never fond of Sari."

Jake felt his temper start to rise again. He never did like Paul Harrison. The things that man did to Sari, most were unknown to everyone. Only he knew the whole truth and every time he tried to convince her to leave. She always said no and Jake knew why. One of the regrets he left behind was not squaring it between him and Harrison to make it easier for her. It was turning to guilt now since his leaving gave the bastard plenty of motive to get rid of her.

Gail watched the emotions flit across Jake's face. She remembered when he and Sari ran together. He was more impulsive but she managed to keep it in check. In return Gail saw the shy little girl come out of her shell and become more animated with people. They were a team and occasionally it included Stanley Richmond and that was another story altogether. "Go talk to her. Catch up."

Jake knew it was only right but he wasn't sure if he wanted to go that route. There was the slightest chance that she was angry with him for leaving her. Hell Emily was still angry at him. "No. I gotta go." He turned and started walking towards the car.

Gail followed after giving a glance at Sari. "Can't you stay for at least a day?"

"I gotta be getting back to San Diego," Jake replied as he opened the door. He paused to look at Sari. She was still standing there like she was waiting. It was one of the few things that got annoying but was sure handy. He could feel his mother's hand slide into his pocket and suppressed the smile.

"Just be careful," Gail said as she tucked in the money she had tried offering in the car before into Jake's coat pocket.

Jake looked over once more. He put his hands in his pocket and pulled out the money his mother slipped in his pocket. "Mom, you have clumsy fingers." He held it up and smiled.

Gail smiled as she took the money back. Jake was always too proud for his own good. Whatever Jake had to do, he had to settle on his own. She put a hand on his shoulder, "Just don't forget to call this time." She smiled and then started walking back to town.

Jake smiled as his mother left. He then turned and headed back up the hill. It had to be the stupidest thing ever but he had to make amends with her. She was his best friend. She had his back always. He should have had hers.

The walk up the hill seemed longer than it should have been. Yet he was there and she was there. Jake stood there watching her and he was sure she knew someone was there. He was drawn back to a time when he went to her for help.

_Jake was in trouble again. This time it was serious and he needed someone who knew how to think. Someone who knew how to say the right things. There was only one person he trusted and could go to for help._

_ He found her staring out at the landscape. He wanted to get out of Jericho and half a dozen times he talked about skipping out but she always said that the beauty of Jericho was hidden. She always said things like that and it made him decided to stay just a little bit longer. Besides he couldn't leave, not with the way things were for her._

_ He approached her and had put his hand on her shoulder. He was rewarded by her grabbing his wrist and a fist coming towards his face. It stopped just before it hit and he grinned. "You're getting faster."_

_ "I had a good teacher. He taught me that and had me practice on him till I got it right."_

_ Jake couldn't help but laugh. He sobered though when she looked at him. He said, "Something's come up."_

_ "I figured. The usual?"_

The more Jake thought about it, the more he realized that scene was the same every time he had a problem. Sometimes though he would end up with a kick or an elbow; it depended on how he approached her. As the saying went, the same song, just a different verse. God he was a lousy friend since it seemed like he used her. He looked over at her standing there.

Jake looked on and then decided to head back. He started to move to walk away but inwardly he told himself no. He thought of Ryan and how they used to hang out together. He had walked away from her before. He couldn't do that to her again. He stopped and turned around. Taking a breath to prepare for the inevitable, Jake decided on speaking rather than touching. He put on a smile and said, "Stand still long enough and people will think you're a statue."

As expected she whirled around but the defensive strike Jake had been expecting never came. Instead she stood there looking cool and calm. With the dark glasses on, it was hard to gauge her reaction to seeing him. Jake wondered if he had been right in seeing her again.

Suddenly he was grabbed in a hug which made him think that Stanley had grabbed him again. He had his eyes wide open in surprise. He half expected her to slap him in the face and she would be justified in doing so. The hug was…

He gave a dry chuckle, "Um no punch or kick?"

"Now why would I want to do that Johnston Jacob Green?"

* * *

**A/N:** Well here is my first Jericho fic. Jake's come back to Jericho and meets old friends. Stay tuned for chapter 2 of Forces Collide...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

It was good to be back in Jericho. She just wished the circumstances were different. Sari looked around at the buildings down Main Street. Not much had changed in five years. It seemed like the town time forgot and yet it was home. She always considered it home. She put her helmet on the seat of her motorcycle and smiled.

Some of the people were looking at her. Yep. There were some things that never changed. Those who remembered knew of her past but only what they wanted to see. There was only one person besides her that knew the whole truth and she hadn't seen him in five years. She adjusted her leather jacket and walked towards Gracie's store.

She put her dark shades on. Better people think she was passing through or something. She walked with a purpose when she bumped into someone. It was automatic for her to apologize, "Excuse me. Sorry."

Emily Sullivan had to make preparations for Roger's homecoming. She wanted to show Roger how much she had missed him and maybe they could talk about a few things. She was heading over to Gracie's store to pick up a few things. The day looked promising as she walked to the store. Along the way she bumped into someone. She was going to apologize but the person apologized first. It was enough for Emily to pause and think.

She had heard that voice before. It had been what, five years? She looked at the person. The profile was the same. She couldn't see the eyes. "Sari?"

Sari knew the jig was up and removed her glasses. "Hi Ems."

Emily couldn't believe it. Sari was back. She thought she had left Jericho behind for good after what happened. Emily always suspected that Sari had something to do with the way things turned out. It was never proven but Emily was sure and certain that it was an attempt by Sari to rekindle the times she had with Jake. They had been inseparable before.

Hearing the old nickname Sari used when they were once friends stirred Emily into a response. There was so much to say but all that came out was, "What are you doing back in Jericho?"

Sari expected the tone from Emily. No amount of explanation could change what happened between them. She replied in a polite voice, "Family business."

"Wow. Must be important for you to come back after what five years?"

"It is," Sari replied with a slight nod. "It has to do with Ryan."

Emily gave a nod as she bit her tongue. Paul and Rachel Harrison had died a week ago and now Sari was coming into town. Rumor had it that it was decided that Ryan would be placed with her sister if they could find her. Looks like they did. "So you got what you wanted?"

"Excuse me?"

"Don't play that innocent game Sari. Everyone knows that you and Ryan were close. They know that you would do anything for that girl."

Sari was well aware of the rumors about her. She replied, "Don't go there Ems. You don't know everything about that. I found out that Mom and Paul died and that I was Ryan's only living relative. I and here because I didn't want to pick up and move her."

"Convenient though."

"Ems…"

"Don't. You lost that right to call me that five years ago."

"Emily, I am not going to argue that with you. Obviously five years hasn't been long enough." Sari looked around. It seemed for now the busybodies were going to ignore them. "What's done is done and I came back for Ryan." Sari sighed. "I gotta go now so I'll leave you alone."

Emily watched as Sari walked towards a motorcycle. Before starting the engine, Sari said, "Ems, congratulations. I hope your fiancé makes you happy… and I mean that." The engine kicked in and Emily watched the motorcycle head away from the main part of town. She sighed feeling she had been unfair but brushed it aside as she entered Gracie's.

Sari would have liked nothing more to do than gun the engine and head straight out of town. However she knew she couldn't and she wouldn't do that. Ryan needed her now. Her little sister needed her more than ever as she remembered that fateful day when she got the call.

_The mission had been a success. They had been able to infiltrate and rescue the hostages with minimal casualties. It had helped that some of the hostages knew how to handle a gun. Another notch for her team… aside from the second book that was reserved for the special missions that would have probably sent the old gossips of Jericho running to the hills._

_ The CO had sent the gunny to call for her. It reminded Sari too many times she had been called to the principal's office because of an incident and her and Jake's suspected involvement. Those had been fun times since those were never resolved to satisfaction since there was no proof._

_ Once she was in the office, the CO had her sit. It was then he handed her a communique and allowed her to read it. It simply said, "We regret to inform you that on the night of… a semi collided with your parents' vehicle and sent it off the road. Both were killed instantly…"_

_ "What about Ryan?"_

_ The CO explained, "A Mayor and Mrs. Green of Jericho have agreed to take Ryan in until you could be reached. I am prepared to grant you emergency leave."_

The CO was willing but Sari knew that the right thing to do was to resign. She was Ryan's only family now. She couldn't put a burden on the Greens. She petitioned for discharge and made preparations to return to Jericho. Preparations to return home.

It took four days to square things away. The CO helped in that regard and she was in the next cargo plane back to the States, to Denver. She picked up the bike she had left in storage and headed for Jericho. Before taking off from Denver, she touched the necklace that held a lot of memory for her.

Sari knew the way to the Green house well. She would considering all the times she spent there growing up. Back then she used her bicycle and she would race the Green boys when she came. She slowed as she pulled up to the familiar house. She could see picket signs on peoples' lawns saying to re-elect Mayor Green or vote for Gray Anderson. Perfect timing since it was an electoral campaign.

Sighing, Sari got off and walked the bike up the driveway. She looked around and saw the neighbors. Of course they would be nosy. After all she was back in town and they knew how much she frequented the Green house. She gave a slight smile as she pulled a bag off the back of the bike and headed towards the back of the house like she used to.

Ryan was playing with the family dog. Sari watched as her sister threw a call and the mutt chased after it. _Much like Jake would chase after the bone I threw him to get him out of trouble._ It was funny to compare her oldest friend to a dog but the analogy seemed to fit. Sari sighed as she watched Ryan. Her sister seemed to be holding it up pretty good and she was glad that her parents' deaths hadn't worn her down. She looked so happy that Sari seriously considered if it was right to enter into her life after five years of separation.

While she was watching, Ryan finally turned and took notice of her sister. Sari didn't expect the huge smile to bloom as it did. Ryan screeched and shouted, "Sari!"

Sari dropped her bag to take the tackle that came her way and caught Ryan up in a huge hug. "Rye injun bread," she replied teasing her sister with the nickname that she had tagged her with since she was a baby. She stood back to look at her. "Boy you have grown. I guess you're going to work on passing me up huh?"

"Tall enough," Ryan replied as she hugged her sister again. "Five years has been a long time."

"I know."

At that moment, Gail Green came out, drawn by the sudden shouting Ryan gave. When she saw Sari, Gail couldn't help but cry. She restrained herself from running as she made her way to the girl that was… Her thoughts whirled through her mind as she grabbed Sari in a hug. "Sari, you're home. I almost didn't think you got the message."

Sari smiled and gave a slight hum. "You're choking me Mrs. Green."

"Of all the times I half expected you to walk through that door just like you used to," Gail replied as she lessened her hold and then hugged Sari even tighter. "I'm glad you're here."

"I'm glad too Mrs. Green…"

"Gail. You can call me Gail."

Sari smiled, "You know you will always be Mrs. Green to me." She fell in step with Gail as they walked towards the house. Ryan had gone ahead to clean up. "Thank you for taking care of Ryan. You didn't have to but I am grateful. It's better than her going into the system."

"It was no trouble at all. We've gotten so used to the both of you hanging around here, it seemed natural," Gail replied as she studied Sari. She hadn't changed in her appearance but her hair had gotten shorter, shoulder length. "How are things going? Ryan didn't say much from your letters."

"Things were… hectic," Sari replied. _That's the understatement of the year._ "You know how it is traveling around the world and going where you are needed."

"I believe you. I hope it wasn't too much of a sacrifice to give up worthwhile work to come back to Jericho."

"Nothing's too great when it concerns Ryan."

Gail smiled at that. Sari always was one to think about others before herself. Even if her own personal happiness was at stake, she would shut the door and focus on the problem. She had seen that many times when Jake and Stanley would goad her into helping them with their hijinks. Some of their plans were pretty elaborate and they managed to work though not always as planned. "I know that you probably will want to move into your parents' house. It actually was turned over to you. Your mother made sure of it…"

Sari stopped when they approached the living room. Standing there was Johnston Green and he was looking at her with a scrutinizing gaze. She wouldn't blame him for developing a negative opinion about her. She was just as guilty as Jake and she did join in on the screw ups. It wouldn't be the first time double standards would be applied to her case. Still that was counting the chickens before they hatched. She gave a slight nod and greeted the man, "Hello, Mayor Green."

Johnston didn't mean to make the shy girl that once gave him a father's day gift stating that he was more of a father than Paul was feel like a berated child. He just couldn't help the wave of emotions that swept over him and it came out in a frown. The stiff formal greeting she gave was heart wrenching. He replied, "Welcome back to Jericho, Sari."

Gail took charge and motioned for Sari to sit. At that moment Eric joined in and Sari greeted him very quietly much to Gail's worry. Some things didn't change and one of them was Sari retreating into her shell when authority started in and implied that she was stupid. She was about to say something when Sari actually took charge and looked at Johnston saying, "I want to thank you for taking in Ryan after the accident. It's a debt I'll never be able to repay."

"While it was an unusual situation, it really was no problem," Johnston allowed. "I heard that you've made a career for yourself and showed a sense of responsibility. Enough for you to come back to Jericho."

_Only what I was allowed to tell you and could tell you._ Sari kept her thoughts to herself as she listened to Johnston Green speak. She replied, "Sometimes being thrust out into the world is a good learning experience. You grow up."

"Maybe so." It was on the tip of Johnston's tongue to ask Sari if she had heard from Jake in all the years she had been gone. If there was one person Jake would have talked to, it would be her but that had the potential to bring up a discussion that would be painful on all sides. Yet he couldn't help it, "After all considering the trouble before you left…"

"We could discuss that, Mayor Green, but I am here to claim guardianship of Ryan. I'm not going to do anything to ruin your campaign or anything else that is good in this town. I'll just have to work at gaining trust back. It's all anyone can do," Sari replied as she looked at Johnston. She knew he was still hurting. Maybe he blamed her for not trying to keep Jake from leaving or even preventing the events that led to it. That was a wound that took a long time to heal.

"I'm glad you still have your head. You always were the reasonable one." Johnston looked at Sari as he pulled out the paperwork regarding custody. He pulled out a pen and signed the termination of his guardianship and transferring it to Sari. He then handed the pen over to Sari and watched as she signed her name on the appropriate line.

Sari finished signing her name. It was official once Gail and Eric, the witnesses signed. Ryan was now her ward. Gail had told her that the house was hers so there was no problem of a home but Sari wondered how Ryan would feel living in their parents' house alone with her. She sighed as Gail put a hand on her shoulder and gave a rub.

Johnston decided to break the ice after the silence settled in. "Well I hope this means that you will stay for dinner."

"That would my pleasure Mayor Green," Sari replied with a smile on her face.

"Not looking like that," Gail said. She took Sari by the arm and grabbed the bag she brought and led her up the stairs leaving the men to entertain Ryan.

"You really don't have to."

"At least take a shower. Maybe go see your mother?" Gail knew that Sari had been close to her mother. The least she could do was offer a means for her to see her and maybe get some closure. "We can look after Ryan just a little bit longer." She smiled to show that everything was fine. Gail knew that it was awkward even though things went smoothly as well as they could.

"I think I'll do that."

~0~0~

It was typical that her mother would share a headstone with Paul. They were married after all and to the people of Jericho they were a nice and well respected couple. Ryan was the pride and joy and she was the outcast. The product of a marriage that ended when her father was killed serving his country but of course the rumors were killer in this town.

Sari stared at the headstone but focused on her mother's name. It wasn't fair that she had to die. Yet that was how life was; how one was dealt the cards. Sari never blamed her mother for falling in love with Paul Harrison. She was happy for her since her mother had been lonely. Her parents married young, too young as the gossips said, and they had her.

Ryan was another story. She was the apple of Paul's eye. Sari on the other hand was considered worthless even though she brought home good grades and exceptional reports from school. Her mother would give her little treats when she did and she learned quickly to keep her victories a secret. She became shy and introverted. She kept mostly to herself and was labeled a freak. Then he came into her life.

Sari had lived in Jericho her whole life. She spent her time in the shadows avoiding people because she thought they didn't like her. The day she met Jake Green changed that. It was an accident. He would have gotten in trouble for setting one of the Richmond's chickens loose in the school. She told the teacher that she had seen it wander through a hole in the fence.

She had saved Jake from a potential lecture from his father that day as well as a trip to the principal's office. When the teacher on duty left, Jake approached her to thank her and since then, he never failed to invite her along on the harmless pranks. They became partners in crime as Stanley called them. They always had each other's back… until that day.

Sari had found out what the job was. She was good at finding things out. She told Jake and told him to back out. She volunteered to tell Chris but he didn't listen. That day someone died and since then, things went south. Eventually Jake left and then about a week later, Paul drove her off but not before she explained things to Ryan. That time Ryan held a brave face for her. She had cried her tears when Jake left.

Gail had been kind enough to play the messenger and deliver her letters to Ryan. She also forwarded Ryan's letters to her. They created a beacon of light while she was off doing what she did. She used to dream about returning to Jericho and possibly Paul would have mellowed out even though it was one of her more childish fantasies. Thank God for web cameras.

Sari had disliked going through the Greens to communicate with Ryan but she didn't want to run the risk of her sister never getting her letters. However they were willing and on some level it was a comfort since she was certain that Jake didn't call or write them. Hell he didn't do the same to her but then again she really didn't have an address that she regularly received mail from.

Sari continued to stare at the headstone. It seemed silly to talk but it made her feel better. "I know you didn't want to believe it at first Mom. No one did. I kept silent because I thought that as long as you were happy, things would be okay.

"Ryan… She just has me floored. I remember when she was a skinny little thing with scabby knees because she had to join me and Jake. She loves her JJ. I know you didn't approve of him but if you had been able to see what I saw…"

Sari looked up and gave a slight shake of her head. People wrote Jake off as a screw up. Not her though. Maybe that was why they got along so well. She reverted her gaze back towards the headstone and continued, "I'm sorry that you died Mom. I don't know what to do with a teenaged girl now that I'm her guardian. I left a foolish girl and came back to parenthood. Ironic or sad?"

Sari sighed. True she would do anything for Ryan. She stepped up to the plate to take responsibility but in truth, she was scared. She was scared of the fact that she had someone who was going to depend on her to take care of her. She didn't doubt that Ryan loved her but it was way different when she had to administer her love in the role of an adult. It had been easier to walk away then. She did it before when Paul made it clear that she was to get out.

She could have stayed in Jericho. She could have found a place to live on her own and get a job. She might have even done the Peace Corps thing that she told Jake about. She would have been close to Ryan and still be the big sister. Yet she took the opportunity and walked away. She walked away from her sister.

They say that hindsight was 20/20 at best. The way Sari saw it, she was a coward. She had walked away from the one thing that was important to her. The irony was that she had spent her childhood trying to teach that to Jake and in the end she did the same thing he did. They really were partners in crime and yet she never regretted her friendship. Maybe that said something about her and people had the wrong idea about her.

Sari became aware that someone was approaching her. She didn't really tell anyone that she was in town. She highly doubted that it was Emily since that was a rocky boat. It could be a friend of her mother and Paul and they were waiting for her to leave. Well they had more time to visit than she did. They could wait. It was just uncomfortable and she could have reacted per the habits that she had picked up on in the last five years as well as what Jake had taught her.

Sari had to smile at that. Everything she did and went through… it all came back to Jake. He brought her out of her shell and taught her things that he considered were important. Granted most of them were the thing to get them in trouble, they still were a major factor in her life. She wondered where Jake was now. The last she caught a glimpse of him was in the least likely place and her work kept her from talking to him directly but she found out a few things. In a way she was keeping to the promise they made; that they were partners and would have each other's back.

"Stand still long enough and people will think you're a statue."

Sari recognized that voice. She wasn't sure if she should believe it. She whirled around to find the owner of the voice and there he was. For once she was glad that she was wearing her glasses. Jake always said that her eyes betrayed her feelings when they became too intense. At the moment her emotions threatened to boil over in the joy she felt seeing her friend. Her safest bet was to remain still.

It seemed to relay a bit of worry on his face. She wouldn't blame him though. He probably thought that she was going to do something drastic like slap him. The only she actually ever hit him was punch him when he put her reaction skills to the test. She just had to take it in and make sure that she wasn't seeing what she wanted to see.

Unable to stand it anymore, she did the only thing that could convey what she felt. She leapt forward and grabbed him in a hug. She said into his jacket, "It's you. It's really you." She was aware that it was muffled and he probably didn't hear it. That didn't matter though. She just held on in a tight hug, glad that she could see him again.

"Um no punch or kick?"

Sari smiled when she heard the dry chuckle. She replied, "Now why would I want to do that Johnston Jacob Green?"

She released Jake and stood back to look at him. She smiled as he gave that lopsided grin of his back. At least there was one thing about him that didn't change. She put her hands on his shoulders so she could get a better look at him. As a courtesy she removed her glasses so they could see each other.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Jake knew he was in trouble the moment Sari said his full name. She only said it when she was being serious or in a scolding mood. However looking into her eyes, he knew she was teasing him. He replied, "Be careful or I'll have to call you princess again."

"And that will lead to a fight and we both know who's going to win that one," Sari replied.

Jake grinned and replied as she did, "Stanley." He laughed along with her. God he missed hearing her laugh. It wasn't harsh like Stanley's braying when he really got it going. It was… soothing. He always thought it was a pretty laugh.

He cast a glance at the headstone with Paul and Rachel's names on them. He said, "I'm sorry about your mom."

Sari gave a pensive smile. She had come and said her piece. What's done is done. "I know. Maybe it was meant to be. At least I get to be with Ryan again. I just wish it was under better circumstances."

Jake gave a nod and started to walk. He knew Sari would follow especially after he replied, "I hope you mean for you and Ry."

Sari sighed and followed Jake. The cemetery was hardly the place to stroll and catch up but then again they had been in worse places when this conversation came up. When she was side by side with Jake, she replied, "I know you never liked Paul…"

"You always were too nice with your words Sari," Jake interrupted as he stopped to face her. "I wouldn't wish this on your mom but… what he did…"

Sari saw the old temper flare. She knew that Jake had one altercation with Paul and he was lucky that Paul hadn't filed charges and Jake had been a minor then. It could have been so much worse if she hadn't said anything.

_"What happened, Sari?"_

_ "I ran into a pole."_

_ "That is so lame princess. You can tell a better lie than that," Jake replied as he took her face in his hands. He inspected her eye and he became visibly angry the more he kept looking at it. Yet he held her face gently. "He did this didn't he?"_

_ "Please don't say anything."_

_ "He can't be allowed to get away with it. Why do you keep protecting him?"_

_ "You know why, JJ."_

It had been the same song but a different verse every time until Jake barged in Paul's study at the house and threw a punch right in front of one of Paul's clients. What happened afterwards turned out with Jake jumping Paul and shouting that he was a bastard. The mess that caused would have been worse for her but after that Paul laid off of his energy outputs.

Sari didn't want to get into that conversation. That was a ton of regrets in of itself. She carried it and she knew that Jake carried it. She sighed as she put a hand on his shoulder. "I know he did a lot of bad things Jake."

Jake felt his temper start to die down the moment Sari touched him but it finished when she spoke. She didn't have to go into detail on a lot of things and he always could understand her meaning. He looked down and then back at her. "And you stayed for Ry. I get it. Mom mentioned what happened after I split."

Sari had started walking when Jake mentioned that. It wasn't surprising that Jake could keep up. She replied, "I figured she would. You always said you would find a way to get me out." She smiled intending it to be a joke.

Jake couldn't help but smile. He did say that but he had been angry at the time. "I did say that. I got you out so what have you been doing? Where have you been?"

That was the tricky part. Sari knew that she and Jake could play this game all day since he taught it to her when he gave her a birthday gift. She hated to lie directly but there were some things that she wasn't ready to mention. She operated in half-truths which were just as bad as a lie. She did what she usually did and replied, "Been around. Mostly on the other side of the world."

"Peace Corps?"

"Not exactly but we did do a lot of humanitarian work," Sari allowed. "What about you Jake? Getting into trouble?"

Jake smiled at that. "Seems it follows me around."

"Finding out how hard it is without your backup," Sari teased. They had always backed each other up. The few times she did get in trouble, Jake rode to her rescue. He had teased her then about doing stuff without backup.

Jake couldn't help but give a short laugh. "Yeah. There were times I wished I had your way with words." He grew silent for a moment. Maybe was the time to apologize for not staying in touch with her. He may have felt like he couldn't with his own family but it wasn't fair to her. "Sari, I'm sorry for taking off like I did and…"

"You're not sorry. You have regrets… we both do. While it wasn't the best of circumstances, you needed to go."

"You always did have a way of making me feel guilty." Jake looked at her without malice.

"Guilty as charged," Sari replied. "Maybe it was because the times I did such, it was trying to keep my best friend out of trouble." She cast a glance at Jake and gave a wry smile.

"I should've made an effort to stay in touch though. At least try to find out if you were okay."

"Then you would have been surprised to see a return address of some battleship or fort," Sari replied. She had let that slip intentionally.

"So that's how you saw the world? Marine?"

"Navy. Turns out I've got sea legs," Sari replied. "I did my time and then went and did humanitarian work. It put a different perspective on life seeing people that were less fortunate than I was."

"And now you're back. How does Ry feel about…?"

"We'll make it work. Mom made sure I got the house."

Jake paused a moment before asking, "Are you sure you want to go back there?"

"Practicality, Jake. I could sell the place and move into one of the apartment complexes. Probably a lot easier but…" Sari shrugged her shoulders. "At least I have free reign on decorating."

"Like you were any good with that," Jake teased.

Sari laughed at that and retorted in a good-natured manner, "What about you Jake? Where have you been?"

"Here and there. I gotta get back to San Diego though so I have to take off today," Jake replied immediately regretting the words. However he couldn't lie and say that he had come back to stay though that prospect seemed tempting now.

"Probably got a gig chartering planes," Sari countered aware of slight disappointment that Jake was leaving so soon. Well that was life. That was her life the last five years, always on the move.

Jake was aware of the disappointment in her voice. She may have done Navy… God help it if Dad knew… but she didn't know what he did. The things he did and she wouldn't understand that he needed to make a clean start. The line she threw him was typical. She always seemed to know when he needed a lifeline and would toss it at him but she made him work for it. He took it, "Something like that."

Sari nodded in understanding. It seemed that Jake forgot that she could tell when he had a secret that was eating him alive. He could always tell with her and she learned from him how to do the same for him. She asked, "Keep in touch then?"

"I don't want to disappoint Ry again and I want to make amends for leaving you out to dry."

"You didn't leave me Jake. I always had your back even when you left town. Your dad quizzed me and I did what I could."

"I shouldn't have gotten you involved," Jake replied.

"You asked for help. It's what partners do," Sari replied. Saying that made her feel like she was younger back when they terrorized the town with their antics. Those were the days.

"I'm surprised that you still think of me as that," Jake admitted. "You have every right to be angry. I practically expected you to slap me. You don't think I remember when you slapped Bill for what he said?" He smiled again and gave a slight chuckle at that memory. That day, he never thought that he would see the day when Sari would fight back like she did.

"Your finest moment Jake. I remember," Sari replied. She studied Jake and could tell that he was itching to go. Reaching into her coat pocket, she pulled out a scrap of paper and a pen. She began writing on it. When she was finished, she handed it over to Jake. "I assume you would remember the house number but this is my personal line. Don't wait another five years before saying hello again."

Jake took the scrap of paper with her number scrawled on it. Once again she gave a lifeline out. He knew that if he called her, she would let Mom know that he was all right. "Thanks." He held out his hand.

Sari grasped it in a handshake and pulled Jake into a hug. "Take care of yourself Jake."

~0~0~

The road back seemed longer than ever now as Jake drove down the familiar stretch of highway. He never expected the reception he got or the farewell. He felt that he was abandoning them… her… again but she seemed to understand? Jake couldn't help but ponder that. Had so much changed for her in the last five years?

Jake flipped the radio on to listen to the president's speech. It was better than nothing and he did cultivate a habit to be up to speed casually on the politics. It didn't mean that he was political savvy but it did often pay to know what was going on. He put his hand in his pocket and fingered the scrap of paper and then they brushed against something else.

Pulling it out, he realized that it was eight twenties folded neatly in half. It couldn't have been his mom since she had clumsy fingers. He couldn't help but smile and shake his head. He had taught her that trick and it seemed that she hadn't lost the touch for it. "Thanks, princess," he muttered with a slight smile.

As he was driving along he noticed that the radio was going on the fritz and he found that odd. By chance he happened to look out to the right towards Denver. What he saw… he couldn't believe it. That was a mushroom cloud? His attention was so fixed on it that he didn't see the car drifting into his lane until it was too late.

Jake saw it and tried to get out of the way but he got hit and hard. He felt a sharp pain go through his leg and his head. His body felt sore and dazed. Then he saw black.

~0~0~

Ryan was sitting with the Greens in their living room watching the presidential address. She looked to see the mayor and his wife sitting together, holding each other affectionately. She knew that they were thinking about Jake. He left without saying good-bye, not even to her but Sari explained that he had to go but that he promised to call. That mollified her though she couldn't understand why her JJ couldn't stay.

She turned to watch the TV and kept her thoughts to herself. Besides she didn't want to let the Greens know that she had eavesdropped on the conversation that Jake had with the mayor. She didn't know what happened to make him leave the first time but obviously it was still bad. It was sad that there was something to make her favorite family so sad.

She watched when something happened. The TV went fuzzy. Trying not to be scared, she looked towards the Greens silently asking what was wrong.

~0~0~

Emily drove out on the road heading towards Wichita. Roger's plane would be in that day. She had made the house all nice and welcoming. She even planned a surprise dinner for the occasion. IT certainly would bring a light to her day after what happened.

Of all the people to run into at Jericho, she had to run into the Double Trouble pack. First Sari and then Jake. She should have known. Where there was one, there was the other. They always paved the way for the mischief. Her brother looked up to them and tagged along occasionally with Stanley. Then 'he' showed up on the scene.

Emily felt the old feelings of anger and betrayal pop up. True she and Jake had been an item and Sari was her friend but that ended when they both left. It was inevitable. First Jake and then Sari. Sari may have been forced out but it was to be expected since they never did anything halfway,

Emily became distracted when she noticed the birds acting strangely. It was strange and she wasn't sure what was going on. She didn't give it a second thought as she continued on her drive towards Wichita. Her thoughts became consumed with seeing Roger again.

~0~0~

Sari was in the yard doing chores by carrying a bag of Ryan's clothes down the street to the house. Growing up she never knew that the Greens lived so close to her home until Jake brought her to meet his parents before they went to play. It was a short walk by adult standards but it took up nearly a lifetime when they were kids.

Parting with Jake was better this time around. At least he promised to call Ryan. She never expected him to call her just because but she would be there if he needed backup. She explained that to Ryan a little but she would go into detail that night when they were back home. They could also talk about how Ryan felt about the whole thing.

The trips between the two houses were like a stroll down memory lane as Sari made her way back to the Greens. She had changed from the suit she had worn when she paid her respects back to jeans, a t-shirt and her leather jacket to do the heavy lifting. Ryan stayed with the Greens while she took the time to get things situated.

It was on her last trip through the backyard of the Green residence that she felt her cell phone go off. She had put it on vibrate and it shook in her hand as she pulled it out and looked at the contact number. It was restricted of course. Wonderful thing technology was. She flipped it open and put it to her ear. She turned and noticed something in the sky. She stared at the sky as she listened to the voice on the phone. Her eyes widened slightly.

At that moment she could hear voices. It sounded like Jimmy's voice along with his wife and kids. The kids sounded scared about something. They must've seen something.

It was old habits and new ones combined as Sari made her way into the house. She took her favorite vantage point when she used to jump Eric just to get him mad and listened. The kids were scared. Whatever they saw had to have been terrible. She could tell that Jimmy and his wife were scared but he was trying to keep a brave face.

The kids described the worst thing that she could possibly hear. She had seen plenty of textbook pictures to know that they were not kidding when they described a mushroom cloud. The direction they described it sounded like it was coming from Denver. Sari didn't want to send anyone into a panic since it could have been an accident. Yet her gut was telling her that it wasn't. She had learned to trust that ever since she joined her team.

Ryan turned to glance at her as she sat with Jimmy's kids. Sari made a slight motion with her head to indicate that Ryan was to say nothing. It was a big assumption that Ryan would understand what that gesture meant. Fortunately she did and kept quiet until the whole story was told. That was when Ryan got up and quietly made her way to Sari. Sari was leaning against the wall mulling over things in her mind.

"Sari."

"Hey Rye bread," Sari replied as she was thinking. It could have been an accident but that didn't seem likely. She had heard rumors during her last tour, but…

"JJ is out there," Ryan said,

Sari looked down at her sister. Ryan was right. Jake was out there and if she wasn't mistaken, he was heading towards Denver to take the train back to San Diego or flying out. It was highly unlikely but if there was chaos out there… She replied, "I know."

"You have to find him."

Sari looked at her sister and gave a slight pat to her head. She would go out there and she would make sure that he was all right. "Habibiti, will you be okay with the Greens?"

Ryan gave a nod, glad that Sari still used the pet names for her. "Yes."

~0~0~

The moment that Gail heard the story from Jimmy's children, her mind went to full worry. Jake was out there and she didn't know if he was all right. She kept her composure as well as she could until Johnston told Jimmy and Bill that they were heading towards town hall to figure out what was going on and what their next course of action was.

"Johnston," Gail whispered as her husband was leaving, "Jake is out there."

Johnston looked at his wife. His first thoughts went to Jake's wellbeing the moment he heard too. In fact he had to fight every fiber of his being from jumping up and running out there to search for his son. He was going to reply when he heard the sound of an engine roar.

It wasn't a car engine. That much he knew. Then there was the high pitched squeal of tires and the revving of the engine as it took off down the street. He knew that Gail heard it too and he glanced to find Ryan looking at them expectantly. "Looks like someone is already on that."

"Johnston."

"I know. We'll find him. More likely she will," Johnston replied, "And chew him out a good one." He smiled to let his wife know that it was going to be okay and he directed it towards Ryan. He left the house with Gail holding onto Ryan as if she were the last thing on earth.

~0~0~

Sari was not one to waste time. That was the thing with missions. You had your timetable and your objective. It was simple, get in, do your job and get out. True the game plan could change and you had to call an audible but you did it and did it fast. It was hard to get out of when you were accustomed to it but it also made you aware that you couldn't always shoot first and ask questions later. That didn't apply though too much in this case.

Sari thought that with everything happening, it would do her good to act first. She felt bad for leaving Ryan with the Greens since it seemed like she was taking the first opportunity to dump her sister on the people that had been looking out for her instead of taking responsibility. Yet, this was Jake. It wasn't just for her peace of mind but for the Greens and for Ryan.

After making sure that Ryan was okay, she slipped out to where her bike was. Mayor Green would be heading to town hall to figure out what to do for the benefit of the town along with Jimmy and Bill. She could take care of this little thing for the Greens. She guided the bike to the street and pointed it in the direction that she was sure Jake would have gone and revved up and gunned the engine. She took off like a bullet down the street.

She was aware that she could potentially hit people on her way out but she knew Jericho like the back of her hand. She knew the shortcuts to the highway that led to Denver. Luckily there wasn't much traffic as she sped out of town and gave the bike her head.

The one thing she loved about motorcycles was the fact that they could consume more mileage than gas. It was one of her little secrets she had kept even from Jake. She had saved her money and bought it. With the help of Stanley, she managed to have a place to store it since she hadn't wanted one more thing Paul could use against her.

The bike ate up the miles like it was nothing and the odd and funny thought crossed her mind as to how it would fare in a race against Jake's car. She would make him eat her dust. Of that she was certain. She adjusted her sunglasses and sped onward while scanning the terrain for any sign of Jake. He had a few hours maybe on her but she knew the shortcuts like he did. She would find him.

A vague thought occurred to her as to the route he might take and while it was highly unlikely, she surmised that this was Jake. She took the route and followed through. If she ran out of gas, that was no problem since she had filled up when she arrived and she always carried a spare can.

The route brought back memories of when she went on her first ride with Jonah and his boys. Jake hadn't wanted to bring her but Jonah wanted to meet the tactician of the partners in crime. She never hung out with them again after that but was always around when Jake needed a hand. That was often especially when Jake and Emily got serious and she started hanging out with Stanley more out of a need for company and learning a thing or two about the Richmond farm.

Sari followed the curve with ease as she shifted her body to turn the bike. She noticed the birds were acting strange. Something did happen. It made her focus on the road ahead. Traveling down the empty highway, she was wondering if she had made a mistake. She couldn't give up though and it seemed at long last, a sign appeared. However it wasn't a good one since she saw smoke and could make out bits of car parts on the road.

Sari felt her heart seize when she spotted a familiar looking car that looked like it had a run in with one of those heavy duty pickups. The station wagon was equally mangled and Sari prepared herself for the worse as she had been taught. Yet a small part of her hoped that she would have at least one survivor. She sped in the last few feet and skidded to a halt; the kind that would have made it into the movies and got off and jogged towards the familiar looking car after grabbing a small bag off the bike. She peered into the window.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Jake could hear laughing; children's laughter but it was distinct; like a distant memory. It brought him back to a happier time before the teen rebellion thing. It was actually nice and he wanted to stay there.

_JJ, what do I do next?_

Jake heard the voice and mumbled, "You need your balance."

_Balance?_

"If you fall… I'll catch you."

Jake tried opening his eyes but his head throbbed. He didn't appreciate it though when one was pried open even though it was gentle. He then got a flash of light in his eye. He tried to bat the hand away.

_You always fight me._

Jake didn't say anything as he finally managed to open his eyes and looked up. He caught the glint of something dangling in front of his vision. It was small and familiar. Suddenly the throb in his leg and his head didn't seem so bad. He reached up and touched the object and held it in his fingers. He let his eyes rove upwards to see… Jake squinted. "Sari?"

Sari tried not to think the worst case scenario when she found the car the way it was. After all she had seen worse in the places she had been. Her training kicked in as she skidded to a halt and grabbed the kit she always carried. When she peered in and saw the state Jake was in, she felt the air rush out but she checked and was relieved to find him alive.

She checked the others in the station wagon and grimly turned away. There was nothing she could do for them but she could help Jake. She had to pry the door open and get him out and onto the pavement. Her first concern was the leg when she saw the nasty gash on it. It was deep but not life threatening. He was going to be in pain for a while. The head injury was something else.

Her major concern was TBI or concussion. She looked around for the penlight and tried to get a good look but as usual he fought her. The man would insist on helping her but he fought her like she was going to give him cooties. His mumblings though had her frowning slightly until it dawned on her that he was remembering something and upon listening she remembered exactly what he was talking about. It surprised her when he grabbed her necklace but that opened his eyes enough to peer at her and say her name.

Sari replied, "Getting into trouble and you're not even out of Kansas yet." She gave a slight smile to tease him while she peered at the cut and made sure it was clotting.

Jake meanwhile was looking at the object his fingers were slowly turning around. He remembered it very well. "You still have it?"

Sari looked down at his fingers turning the ring she kept on a chain for many years. She knew he had one similar to it, if he hadn't lost it. She replied, "Never left it behind. We're partners."

_You still kept it._ Jake looked at the ring. It was the size for a tiny finger. He gave it to her the day they declared each other to be partners. Once again she saved his butt. He smiled softly, "Partners."

Sari finished what she was doing. It was field dressing at best but it would help until they got back to town and the clinic. She put her kit away and said, "Think you can stand my bad driving back to town?"

"What about…?"

"There's nothing we can do. Come on." Sari positioned herself to give Jake a hand up. She was pleased that his grip was firm and she grasped his wrist. She watched his movements and made sure he didn't jar his bad leg too much. She held him steady when he teetered a little. "Whoa. Give it a couple of seconds before you decide you're fine."

"I am fine."

"Yeah right and I'm a monkey's uncle."

Jake snorted as his head cleared. He took the time to study his surroundings and he noticed the kit in her free hand. "When did you become expert on field dressings?"

"Field medic."

Jake gave a slight shake of his head. He was good now but his head throbbed and putting weight on his leg didn't help either. "Don't suppose you have pain pills in there?"

Sari was saved from answering when she heard children's voices. They were shouting for help. She knew Jake heard them too when he started towards them and she instinctively followed carrying her bag. They were saying that the bus was crashed and they needed help. Sari could see the scared looks on their faces and immediately said, "Alright, we're coming. Just wait right here."

She sprinted back to her bike and opened one of the carry-on containers. She pulled out a second bag which had emergency supplies and locked it up. They could get it later. She put the keys in her pocket and sprinted back to where the kids were waiting with Jake. Hoisting the two bags over her shoulder with one hand she followed at a slow jog to keep pace and allow Jake to lean on her for support as he needed.

She suspected he had a minor concussion, maybe worse so she needed to work on keeping him awake. He also had abrasions and some blood loss. Injuries made a body want to shut down and sleep. It was a healing mechanism. Not this time though. She gave a gentle pinch on Jake's shoulder and muttered, "Stay with Jake."

"Don't boss me princess," Jake muttered weakly.

"And don't make me use the secret weapon your mother taught me." It was a joke but it did the trick. Sari learned from Gail that the trick to getting stubborn Greens to do something was to make them think that you had a secret weapon to gain cooperation. Only this one was a real one since she had witnessed it used only once and the effect was profound and a source of amusement. "Work with me, partner."

Jake was working with her. His head felt heavy and his leg throbbed but between the occasional pinch every now and then and sheer willpower, he was able to stay awake. Normally he would have pinched her back by now but he realized that she was only doing what needed to be done to keep him on his feet. It wasn't that she doubted his capabilities nor did he doubt hers, it was more along the lines of putting up and getting the job done. When she pinched him again but a little harder he said, "I'm with ya."

"Just checking," Sari replied in a careful singsong voice. They were at a fork and she asked, "Alright, which way next?"

The kids pointed and Sari and Jake followed. If Jake was a hundred percent, they would have made it in flat no time. It seemed more like the million miles between her house and his.

~0~0~

Johnston tried to maintain a semblance of calm with his people. From the look of things the explosion was in the direction of Denver. He wasn't going to say it was an attack since they didn't know what it was that had happened. It could have been an accident or something like that. Unfortunately his thoughts drifted towards Jake and if he was all right. As much as he was tough on his son, he still loved him and he was filled with an intense desire to bring him back safely to his wife.

Johnston turned his attention to the issue at hand and that was the argument over evacuating the salt mine. On the one hand he didn't want to cause a panic and on the other ti was better to be safe than sorry. "Norman get everyone out of the mine. Shep help him for a change."

Sometimes being mayor felt like being a parent especially when his own sons used to argue. Not like he was going to admit that to his family. With one crisis abated, he had to get to the next line of business and that was dealing with the explosion. He entered the main office. "Sheriff, Chief, damage? Fires? Buildings?"

"Nothing. The town's fine," the sheriff replied

"Let's hope you're right," Johnston replied.

"What does that mean?"

Johnston knew that he was going to have to explain things eventually but right now he had to make sure his town was secure. He looked at the sheriff and asked, "Do we have any Geiger counters?" At the look he explained about the explosion that had been spotted.

"So what are the emergency procedures say?" Like the mayor, the sheriff knew that he had to be on the ball and be one of the leaders of Jericho in order to keep people calm.

Eric, following his father's calm manner, had managed to pull out the procedures regarding emergency scenarios for Jericho. One such procedure included the event of a nuclear blast. He flipped it open and began reading, "Contact the governor, National Guard and state troopers."

Then the panic set in. "Are we under attack?"

Johnston looked up immediately. He had to nip this in the bud before mass panic started. "Son, I don't wanna hear that word again. Now look this could've been a test, it couldn't have been an accident, there's a military bases near Denver. One explosion does not make this an attack. We stay calm, the town stays calm." He patted the deputy on the shoulder to reassure the man. Everyone wanted to panic but they had to keep it together. Out of the blue he was reminded of Sari when she, Jake and Stanley were out doing one of their adventures. Stanley had broken his leg and Jake had sprained a wrist and Sari made Jake help her carry Stanley all the way back to town. Jake and Stanley had been panicked but she was calm until after getting them back.

It wasn't long until Bill came with the box of Geiger counters. "Found the Geiger counters."

"Thanks," Johnston replied as he took the box. At that moment Gray Anderson walked in. Another pair of hands was always helpful. "Ah Gray, good to see you. We could use the extra help." He pulled out one of the Geiger counters.

"No thanks Johnston," Gray replied. "Eric. What can I do to help?"

Johnston knew that Gray would exploit a situation for political reasons. He didn't have time for this. Right now his first concern was the people of Jericho. He replied, "We'll let you know." He smiled politely as he turned to switch on the machine. The clicks started going and the room went quiet. The things were working. "Looks good."

"Mr. Mayor. The bomb."

Johnston turned to see someone come in. He replied," Yes ma'am so far there's no sign of any radiation. We'll keep checking around town."

"No, no, no. Sir, the school bus isn't back from the field trip with my daughter."

There was another problem and one that struck close to home for Johnston. It felt like everything was happening at once and he took a brief pause and looked at Eric. He couldn't leave the kids out there. It was one of those things about being mayor. Sometimes things just seemed to pile up and you had to deal with each problem the best that you could.

His silence though didn't translate well with the woman. She nearly shouted, "Well do something! You should be out there looking for Stacey."

Johnston tried to calm the woman down. "Teresa, this is the first that we've heard about it but we will deal with it alright? Just please don't worry."

"That's easy for you to say. You don't have a child out there," Teresa replied.

It was easy to retort considering that he did have a child out there. Yes there was that saying that no matter how old you got, you were still a child to your parents. However he had to be the adult here. He could understand that Teresa was a concerned parent and her child was out there and they had no contact. It was easy to think the worst case scenario. It was going to be difficult. Johnston replied, "We will find them."

It didn't take long to pull out a map of the highways in and around Jericho. If they could backtrack the bus' movements, then they could have some place to start the search. The chief pointed out, "There's Wilson's garage off of 160."

Eric pointed out, "Or there's Cedar Run Road. It was mentioned that they took a detour."

The sheriff added, "I figure two teams would do. There's only so many places it could be."

Gray decided to take the opportunity to rack in some points. "What about the parents?"

It was a good idea but Johnston knew that if the worst were to happen to the parents, their children would come back orphans. He would much rather have the parents be waiting for their children. The cacophony that started though was one of the more annoying things about Gray Anderson that Johnston would have liked to have had a strong reaction to.

Johnston had to stop people from doing anything rash. He cast a glance at Gray before speaking to the crowd that was filling the office. "Folks. Look I know that every part of you just wants to rush out there. I don't blame ya but as your friend I'm asking ya to think about that. You're safe here and what if, God forbid, you go out there and you get stranded and your child comes back an orphan? You know the sheriff and his men they'll find your kids so please…" As he finished, he felt tired. One more crisis abated.

~0~0~

Robert Hawkins surveyed the town of Jericho. He had just moved his family there and then the incident occurred. He knew that there was going to be some panic going on and figured that he could give a hand while trying to find out what was going on. His best bet was to head towards town hall but he figured that being out on the streets and giving a hand would be better in getting an in with the people.

At the main part of town, he could see people going through the streets. Some were panicking and they looked like they were going to head out for one of the nearby town. Others were trying phones or anything to get in contact with the outside world. The police and firefighters were doing the best they could. He had been prepared for situations like this but it was way different when seeing it for real.

In the midst of people going every which way, there was one person who looked fairly calm and wasn't panicking like the others. It was a young girl and she was walking with a purpose through the streets looking around at everything. Hawkins was curious since she should be in school and worried about the other girl things. Perhaps it was unconventional but he got the feeling that the girl may know a few things or was someone a person could trust.

Hawkins made the choice and walked up to the girl but paused as she started talking with another girl. She was saying, "I don't know Skylar. I heard something about a cloud in Denver. You've been in touch with your parents?"

"As if," Skylar replied, "At least you got out of the house. I heard that your sister was coming back."

"She did. She came today."

"Really and you're out here? Dang she must be cool to let you do what you want. Ryan."

The girl Ryan replied, "She's out looking for JJ. I'm just trying to find out what happened. I'm staying with the Greens."

"Right. I forgot you were the favorite of the Mayor and his wife and that is because they know your sister."

"At least I'm not a spoiled princess," Ryan retorted before walking away.

Hawkins was impressed at the attitude the girl had. He followed her a ways and finally managed to say, "You're pretty good at taking an implied insult."

Ryan looked up to see a man she had never seen before. She knew almost every person in Jericho and this one was not one of them. He must be new. She replied carefully, "As much as I wanted to start a fight, it was hardly the time or the place and Skylar likes to be difficult."

"Still it was impressive," Hawkins replied, "I'm new in town; my family just moved here."

Ryan looked around and gave a slight smile, "Well welcome to Jericho though I think you'd hardly find it welcoming. Something happened in Denver but I don't know what it is. At least Sari would have told me."

"The thing about parents is that they feel they have to protect their kids from the worse," Hawkins replied. "They think that if you don't know, you'll be safe."

"I guess," Ryan replied.

"So you call your mom by her first name? Doesn't sound respectful and you seem like a nice kid to me," Hawkins replied.

Ryan laughed at him and replied, "Sari? Nah. She's my sister. She just came back to town to become my guardian. My parents died a week ago. Sari's my only living relative this close to Jericho so…" She shrugged her shoulders. "So I know you're not from around here Mr.?"

"Hawkins. Robert Hawkins," Hawkins replied. "I'm a cop out of St. Louis."

"And you moved here to Jericho?" Ryan looked at him incredulously.

"You think it's a little strange?"

"Yeah," Ryan replied with a slight chuckle. "A big city cop moving to a small town like Jericho… There's nothing wrong with the town but to me it seems like the only reason someone would move here from the city would be that they are going hippie and want to get in touch with farmland American or they have something to hide."

Hawkins was impressed. Most girls he had observed had a different set of interests. This one was different and he was willing to bet that her sister was like her judging by the slight admiration he picked up on when talking to her. "You're pretty smart."

"I had pretty good teachers."

Hawkins smiled at that. She was good and he suspected that it had something to do with her sister. It did sound a bit like hero worship but the girl was too observant and too calm and she didn't sound excited about the things her sister did. "Sounds like you did. So now you know that I'm new in town, do you know where I can go to give a hand?"

"It'll be appreciated but you best not get your hopes up. Most people in this town are a little wary when it comes to new folks," Ryan replied. "However you may want to stick around. Sometimes the sheriff or chief will be willing for outside help."

"Thanks…"

"Ryan Harrison. My sister might like you. She once paid a visit to St. Louis."

Hawkins smiled as he let the girl go. He watched as she headed towards town hall. She would probably find out more from the mayor and whoever else was there. He had to admit that she had been very helpful. She had provided more information than he thought to gain at least about the mentality of the people here. He was also interested in the girl's sister Sari since she arrived in Jericho.

Hawkins stuck around town as the day began to die and nightfall dropped its cloak over the town. He watched as the cops came out and spotted the sheriff. He would follow the advice of the little girl. He chased him down and introduced himself, "Sheriff. Robert Hawkins."

The sheriff replied in the polite tones, "Welcome Mr. Hawkins but as you can see we've got our hands full."

Hawkins knew that he had the man's attention. Whether or not he would be receptive to help was another matter. It seemed that the girl's advice was going to be worth the effort. "Could you use an extra man?"

"No civilians. Mayor's orders."

"But I used to be a cop," Hawkins replied. It was a long shot but sometimes people were receptive to help from folks that knew what they were doing and had experience. "St. Louis."

The sheriff was receptive. "Do you know the roads around here?"

Hawkins smiled. He should have anticipated this. "No I just moved to town."

"Then I'm afraid you'd just slow us down. Sorry." The sheriff would have liked the extra help especially from someone who knew how to maintain law and order like a cop or ex-cop. However if it was someone knew to town, he didn't have the time or the manpower to search for someone who may get themselves lost in the middle of nowhere. He had to refuse the man his help and it was with great reluctance.

Hawkins knew the same thing as the sheriff which was why he smiled like he did. However he could give advice especially he had his suspicions about what happened. He replied, "You might want to get some black spray paint." He knew the sheriff had paused so he turned around to explain himself. He pointed at the sheriff's car. "You know. Cover that."

The sheriff looked at his patrol car. He was wondering where this stranger Hawkins was getting at. He paused to think about it.

Hawkins noticed the look and added, "Look I know you are telling people it was an accident. And I hope it was." He moved closer to the sheriff to make sure that no one else overheard what he was about to say. "But if it was an attack, Sheriff, and there's chaos out there, you might not want the wrong people knowing that Jericho is still here."

The sheriff listened. He thought it was a little ridiculous and replied, "With all due respect, Mr. Hawkins, this is not St. Louis." He gave a warning look at Hawkins before stepping away to take care of other matters.

Hawkins didn't follow the sheriff. He expected that there would be resistance to his suggestions. Even the girl Ryan had told him that. He had figured that maybe in the light of crisis that the people of Jericho, namely the ones involved with the local government, would be receptive to him. He tried laying down suggestions in a practical manner. He figured part of it was the fact that he told people that he was from St. Louis.

Well he could still keep trying. He would just stick around and make himself useful. There were plenty of people wandering around that he could give a hand to. He could also ask the fire chief if he needed any help. He would do what he can. He looked around the main part of town to see where he could make himself useful.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Johnston felt bone tired and he knew that he wasn't feeling well. However he couldn't let that show since he had to keep this town together. He had a bus full of missing kids out there and Jake was still out there along with Sari. He had a pile of worries on his shoulders.

Earlier Ryan had come in asking about the situation. Johnston was surprised that she hadn't asked if Sari had been back yet. The two had been close before Sari left and Ryan certainly had been overjoyed to see her sister when she came to the house. Here he was seeing a girl who was looking remarkably calm given the drama that she had been through the past week and she was asking him what had gone on.

Johnston considered lying to Ryan but she was more like her sister in that if given the chance she could probably tell a lie better than accept one much like Sari. However it seemed that Sari made sure that Ryan be more honest and learn how to be circumspect with her inquiries. She spoke in a loud enough voice and she pulled him to the side to ask about the situation.

In the end Johnston said that there was an explosion near Denver but they didn't know what was going on. He half expected her to ask if it was an attack and for a moment it seemed like she would but she didn't. Instead she asked if there was anything she could do to help. The only thing he could tell her to do was to go back to Gail and stay with her.

She seemed a little disappointed but she accepted it. It was rather strange considering that his own boys had gone through their teen rebellion. Some parts had more unsavory consequences than others but he went through them. To not see it in Ryan was a little troubling and he wondered if it had something to do with the sort of clandestine communications she had with her sister. Those conversations were strange in of itself since they didn't speak in English half the time.

The letters were easier since they were written in English and even when he read them, they seemed a little clipped. Whatever the case, he was dealing with a near teenager who was behaving more like a rational adult. Well at least that was better than nothing and she was handling things better than some of the adults here. He said, "Don't worry Ryan. I'm sure Sari is chewing Jake out a good one."

"I have no doubts about that Mayor Green," Ryan replied. "So there is nothing for me to do here?" She looked up at Johnston with a look that begged her to give her something to do; anything to kill the wait.

"Unfortunately no, Ryan. I have a missing school bus and a bunch of other things going on. Plus I need to find a CB radio and the only person in town who has one…"

"Is a crazy old coot," Ryan finished with a knowing smile. She had heard that phrase over and over. "I'll go back to the house. Will you let us know when Sari and JJ get back?"

Johnston paused a moment. It had been years since he had heard that nickname for Jake. While he was gone, Ryan never mentioned it. Sari had been the one to give him that nickname and since then only she and Ryan had been allowed to use that. It was somewhat comforting how certain things came back from the past and produced a sort of calm in the midst of chaos. He replied, "I will."

"Thanks Mayor Green," Ryan replied with a smile unaware that other people noticed her smiling at the mayor.

It had a slight effect on the crowd that was waiting to hear of news from people about what was going on. In a town where everyone pretty much knew everybody, it was easy to become assured by a girl who lost both her parents and still managed to put on a smile. Even Teresa was reassured that the mayor and the sheriff would be able to find her daughter.

Johnston saw the reaction as he made preparations to go out and find the CB radio that everyone knew about. He grabbed his coat and motioned for Eric to follow. He was feeling sick but first things first. He had to get the radio and try to see if they could contact the governor's office or the National Guard or something.

"Why was Ryan in town? Wasn't she supposed to stay with Mom?" Eric asked on the way there.

"She wanted to know what was going on and she went to where she knew she wouldn't be lied to," Johnston replied. "She doesn't like being lied to."

"And you told her everything?"

"Ya gotta give her more credit than that Eric. She would have picked up on the lie immediately. She wanted the truth and I gave it to her. She understands why we are doing things the way we are doing."

"Pretty big assumption for someone who is only twelve."

"Wanna blame it on someone, talk to Sari. Lord knows she could worm the truth out of you."

Eric couldn't help but give a wry grin. He remembered the last time Sari did that and that was when he had his 'musical phase' and she somehow managed to worm out of him his intention to audition. She offered to help but of course Jake found out and then… "I remember."

Johnston made a hum before a cough took over. They were there and there was no time to fuss over it. He batted away his son's concern, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." He knocked on the door, not in the mood for ridiculous shenanigans.

Eric tensed up slightly when Oliver came out of his house cocking the shotgun. He knew why they were there but that didn't mean he had to like it. At least his father knew how to handle him. He held the flashlight up.

Johnston coughed again feeling annoyed that it was catching up to him. He nearly rolled his eyes as he said, "Oliver, would you stop that?"

Oliver peered at Johnston for a moment before lowering the shotgun. "Sorry Johnston. I thought you were aliens. We're under attack… by aliens. Don't you know?"

Johnston knew that the best thing to do was to agree with Oliver on a few things. Everyone in town knew that the Oliver believed in aliens and that they were going to attack them. They indulged while calling him crazy behind his back. Johnston knew though that they had to indulge if they were going to get the CB radio. "Yes we know. That's why we're here. Do you have your ham radio?"

Oliver made a slight noise but the answer was distinctive, "Yes." He didn't want to give it up but this was Mayor Johnston Green. "For you… fifty cents."

Even to Eric this was ridiculous. If he stopped to think about it, fifty cents was not a big deal. Yet he couldn't help but say, "Oliver."

"Well I need my fifty cents," Oliver retorted.

Johnston knew that it was no time to argue however and fished out a dollar. He handed it over to Oliver without a fuss. He gave a slight look at Oliver.

Oliver took the dollar and looked at it. Johnston was a fair man. "Okay. Let me get your change."

Johnston shared a look with Eric. It was less of an ordeal than it was made out to be. At least they had the ham radio and they were one step closer to try and get contact with the governor's office or anyone outside of Jericho. They waited while Oliver brought out the ham radio along with Johnston's change. Johnston took the radio and Eric took it out of his hands. It was a good thing because Oliver held out something to Johnston. When Johnston looked at Oliver, the man explained, "I heard Sari was back in town. She let me borrow it."

Johnston took what appeared to be a small pouch. It seemed that Sari made friends in the strangest of places. He looked at Oliver and said, "Alright. I'll make sure she gets it Oliver. Thank you." When they were out of earshot, Johnston couldn't help but mutter, "That girl makes friends in the strangest of places."

"You got that right," Eric agreed.

~0~0~

Ryan looked out the window as she went through the kitchen to make the hot tea. The day had been one of chaos with the explosion and then the trouble at town hall. At first she hadn't wanted to believe it since she had heard horror stories as well as seen the movies regarding radiation and nuclear fallout and the like. However she had learned quickly to investigate what she heard and verify for herself.

That was why she snuck out or rather she told Mrs. Green that she was going for a walk. Mrs. Green thought that she was being foolish but she snowed it over stating that she was just going to find out what was going on and not get in the way. Technically she didn't have to listen to Mrs. Green but she had been taught to respect authority and it had been reinforced during her conversations with Sari the last five years. In the end Mrs. Green agreed reluctantly.

Mayor Green told her what he thought and while it scared her, she had every confidence that Sari was being careful. She loved to tell the kids at school stories about her sister off in the jungles of Asia or something like that. Those who had older siblings or had gossiping parents thought that she was being a story teller and would mention the things her sister did. They weren't completely true since Sari and JJ ran together and got into all sorts of trouble when they were growing up.

Well she knew that some sort of explosion occurred out of Denver. As to what it was exactly, she didn't know but she could see the state of panic people were in. She heard comments about the school bus with the kids on the field trip hadn't come back yet. While she really didn't have to be concerned, she was since she knew some of those kids and they liked listening to her stories about Sari's adventures wherever she was. She went back and told Mrs. Green what was going on and that woman was remarkably calm even though Ryan could tell she was worried about Jake just as she was worried about Sari.

It had been hard losing her parents both in the same day in a brutal accident. Even Ryan could tell that a small car had virtually no chance against a semi. She had been made at first with the driver for falling asleep at the wheel and then she had been made for her parents leaving her alone. She was especially mad at her mother for letting dad turn away Sari. She felt alone then and she knew that she hadn't been the best of people the first couple of days.

When she found out that they were contacting Sari and they had found her, she felt a light had appeared at the end of the tunnel. She was actually afraid that she was going to be placed in a foster home or worse sent away from Jericho. She loved Jericho and she loved being with the Greens. She was glad that they took her in while they were looking for Sari. As far as she could remember, she always hung out at the house when Jake came to convince Sari to do whatever they did.

After Jake left and then Sari, Ryan still continued to go over to the Green's house. She was still a child and it was full of grownups but Mayor and Mrs. Green always welcomed her. Mrs. Green said it was like having her boys little again with her coming in and out and that she didn't know what she would do if she didn't hear the banging of the door and shouts with the family dog. A bonus was that the Greens had a computer with a web camera.

That was courtesy of Sari. Initially there had been letters passed back and forth and Mrs. Green had been a willing participant in that. Then Sari managed to have a web camera sent over. How was a question that hung in the air but it was never uttered. The Greens didn't use it and Ryan guessed that maybe they had the wish that Jake would have the sense to try that method. It was something to be resentful with her JJ about but she wasn't. As far as she was concerned whatever happened between Jake and Sari and the reasons they left town were their business. Sari may have explained it but she wasn't going to push.

Peering out at the dusk gathering, Ryan surmised that Mayor Johnson was going to have a long night at town hall. If people were panicking then nighttime was the perfect time for full on chaos to reign. Fear would have people trying to split out of town and there would be fighting over things and the good people of Jericho would turn into something that would be a scary thing. She was also worried about Sari. She didn't know much about motorcycles but if she was still out there, there was the chance that she may have run out of gas and was out there on foot. Then there was the missing school bus and the vague thought that Sari may have found the bus occurred to her.

The kettle was whistling and Ryan turned her attention back to the kettle. She turned off the heat and poured the hot water into mugs with the waiting teabags. It was the least she could do for Mrs. Green. Also April, Eric's wife was there and she liked the woman and she looked a little scared too. Once she was finished pouring the tea and placing them on the tray, she carried it into the living room and handed out the mugs.

"Thank you, Ryan," April said with a slight smile. She remembered when Ryan was a little girl and she looked cute in the dress she was wearing. She regretted not asking her to be the flower girl.

"No problem April," Ryan replied as she handed Mrs. Green hers before sitting with her cup. "Have there been problems at the clinic?"

April appreciated the gesture in trying to keep things seemingly normal. With everything happening, she thought that Ryan would have broken down since she lost her parents in a terrible accident and then spent a week in limbo before her sister was located and came back. Eric mentioned that she had come back. She hadn't seen her and she doubted that she even stopped by. She replied, "None but with what happened today…"

"I guess there will be minor injuries. Still it's nothing that you can't handle right?" Ryan replied with a smile.

April couldn't help but smile, "I guess."

"Like I used to call you, 'Super Doc.'"

That sent the three of them chuckling at that. Ryan took a sip of her tea while she was chuckling. When she was little, she scraped her knee badly. She had been in the back yard and fell out of the tree. April had been the one to patch her knee up. That was when she thought that April could do anything medically. Those were good memories and she could see that Mrs. Green and April were remembering those days as well.

At the next moment, the lights shut off. The whole house went dark. Ryan sat still and put her cup back on the table. Mrs. Green took charged and went to look for a flashlight and then for some candles. They needed to get light in the house.

~0~0~

It was dark and the power just suddenly cut off. It was perfect timing and in a sarcastic way. Being alone in the dark and scared was not a good way to go. The chief of the fire department looked around the town as the lights shut off and plunged the town into darkness.

"The bomb could've shut down the relays."

The chief looked at his men and nodded, "Maybe. They could've blown up the power station for all we know." To him this was another crisis that was not making the situation any better.

Hawkins had been hanging around trying to be helpful where he could. Even though the sheriff blew him off, he still found ways to make himself useful. He found that people in a state of panic tended to gravitate towards those that exhibited a sense of calm. He was also mindful of the girl's advice and just offered as a friendly neighbor.

At that moment he was lingering near where the chief was taking with his men and overheard the theories about why the power shut down. It was another small step into becoming acquainted with Jericho and its people. He offered, "Guys it was probably just a drain on the system from Denver."

The chief looked at the newcomer. He didn't recognize him at all and figured he was new to town, probably a visitor passing through when the incident hit. He replied, "You some sort of science teacher?"

Hawkins could only give a chuckle at that. _If only you knew._ He decided to introduce himself, "Robert Hawkins." He offered his hand.

The chief took the hand and replied, "Chief Carroll. You know anything about relays?"

Hawkins just smiled and replied, "Just a guess since Jericho shares power lines."

"Right." Chief Carroll was wary of Hawkins since he was new to town but he seemed willing to help. He might be able to make some use of Hawkins.

~0~0~

Jimmy peered out into the darkness as he guided his squad car down the dusty route. They had been at it all afternoon and into the night looking for the missing school bus. It was getting difficult to see anything out in that darkness but Jimmy knew that there were a lot of concerned parents waiting to hear about their kids. He thought about his own two kids and was glad that they were safe back in town with his wife.

"You think it was an attack?"

Jimmy looked to his partner Bill who was also looking out into the darkness to search for the school bus. "You know what Mayor Green said."

"I know what Mayor Green said," Bill countered. "That was to reassure everyone and the people in town hall. I'm asking you, do you think it was an attack?"

"It was one explosion," Jimmy replied. "It could have been an accident. There are a ton of possibilities Bill."

"Maybe but it just seems suspicious." Bill looked out and shrugged his shoulders. "See anything?"

Jimmy was glad to steer the conversation away from that. As much as he would like to discuss it, right now the first task was finding the kids and Jake Green though no one said anything about it. Mayor Green asked Jimmy to keep an eye out for Jake before they took off while they were searching for the kids.

Jimmy didn't consider himself the smartest of men but he did have to hand it to the Mayor in keeping calm while he was more likely worrying about his son out there in the middle of nowhere and probably in trouble. Jimmy could sympathize as a parent.

Peering out into the darkness he replied, "Don't see anything but this is near where they said the bus took a detour."

"I hope them kids are alright," Bill replied. "You know that Sari is back in town?"

Jimmy hadn't heard. If Sari was back, that meant that she might be out there looking for Jake. Jimmy remembered those two. Where there was one, there was the other, always getting in and out of trouble faster than you could blink an eye. "Really?"

"Yeah. Actually I spotted her in town before I came over. She was heading over to Gracie's," Bill replied as he moved his head to get a better look out the window. It was getting pitch dark outside and he wasn't sure if they were going to be able to spot the bus even with good flashlights and headlights lighting the way.

"Just like that?"

"Yep."

"Must be here for her sister," Jimmy commented. "The two of them are close."

"Yeah and I heard that Sari is the closest living relative. Who would have thought? She finally gets what she wants."

Jimmy wasn't so sure about that. Certainly there was bad blood between Sari and Bill but it was over something different. Then there was the incident that caused her to leave town. "I don't think having dead parents is what she wanted Bill."

"Of course not but you and I both know that it was no big secret that she had plans to make a home for just her and her sister. You would think she would include her mom."

"Is this about the time she turned you down for a date?"

Bill grew silent for a time. True she did turn him down and he was hurt. She was the first girl he took a serious interest in and it took him time to work up the courage to ask her out. When she refused he thought it was because she thought him to be a loser. He certainly overheard one of the girls she was around ask her why she even allowed him to talk to her.

He found out later that she didn't approve of what the girl said and defended him. She still wouldn't go out with him and when she tried to explain, it came out wrong. So he really wasn't mad or even cared about the hurt anymore. It was just the business of the day that had him get a little tense and it brought up certain reactions. He replied, "No. Just trying to keep it together. She was… is a good person."

Jimmy gave a slight grin as he kept his eyes on the road. He made a turn and thought he saw something. "Did you see that?"

Bill turned in the direction as Jimmy did and peered out the window as Jimmy backed the car up. He peered into the darkness and thought that he made out someone, like a shadow in the darkness. Was there anyone else out there stranded and they needed a lift? "I see them. Is that a person?"

Jimmy stopped the car just as the sheriff reported spotting the bus. That was a relief. The kids were safe. Maybe that was Jake or someone else. "Think so. Could be Jake or someone else that got stranded."

Both got out of the car and advanced towards the shadow. The held their lights steady so they didn't trip over any rocks on the ground. Jimmy glanced around to see if anyone else was with the figure that was shouting for their attention. Bill asked if the guy was alright and he responded saying that he was okay but just stranded.

It was the usual stuff about the car just dying. The guy also made mention of seeing a mushroom cloud. He was playing the part of scared driver.

It went against everything that they trained for but Bill and Jimmy were nice guys trying to help someone out. They didn't see it coming when the guy's partner jumped them from behind and clocked Jimmy on the back of the head. Bill reacted trying to draw his gun but it was smacked out of his hand and a punch came to his face.

Jimmy tried to help his partner but was grabbed by the second guy and given the same face treatment as Bill. They both put up a fight but in the end, they were beaten to the ground and before either could resist, there was the distinct sound of a gun being cocked. Bill looked at Jimmy who was breathing heavily as he was being handcuffed. Bill turned to look up at the first guy who was pointing the gun at him as he was being handcuffed. Bill gave the guy a look over and realized that he was wearing a prisoner's jumpsuit.

An ugly thought entered into Bill's head that the school bus that the sheriff saw was actually a prison bus. He glared as duct tape was put over his and Jimmy's mouths. He then heard noises as the two guys went back to probably where the bus was. He jumped when he heard the gun shots. The next thing Bill knew was that he was hit on the head and he blacked out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Heather Lisinski thought that it was going to be a normal day for a school field trip. Sure there were a bunch of third graders to referee and make sure that they behaved but it was nothing different from when she was in the classroom. She never thought that she would see a sight that most people hoped to never see in their lifetime.

They were on their way back. She had been phoning the school to let them know that they were taking a detour and that they may be a little later than usual. It was a roadblock or something. That was nothing unusual in of itself. It was the sudden change in the noise of the kids that got her attention and she turned to find the source.

Peering out the window, she saw what she knew to be a mushroom cloud. She had only seen pictures of them in the textbooks when you learned about the elements and the like in science class. To see one in real life was sort of surreal. At first she didn't know what to think. It was one of those things that you never thought you would ever see.

A movement caught her attention and she saw a deer running alongside the bus. Heather surmised that it could sense the danger in the air from the mushroom cloud. It probably knew something that they couldn't tell. At least it distracted the kids from seeing the cloud. Meanwhile Heather studied the cloud and looked around when all of a sudden she had been jerked off her feet and she felt a pain in her leg.

The kids were screaming in terror as the bus lurched around. It must've hit something and it came to a halt. Heather felt exhausted by the time the lurching stopped. At least nothing was seriously wrong about the bus. She then closed her eyes. That seemed like nearly a lifetime ago as she watched the dusk settle in and the sky grew dark.

They were supposed to be back in Jericho before night. The parents were going to be worried. Heather looked over from her seat to where the driver was hunched over the wheel. She couldn't tell if he was dead or not and she was worried about the two students who went running for help. She hoped that they were able to find somebody.

Heather felt tired and wanted to close her eyes but she needed to keep an eye on her students. They were scared but they were remarkably calm. She was proud of them and she gave a slight smile at the thought.

"Ms. Lisinski, when can we go home?"

Heather looked at the student who asked the question. She smiled at the little girl and said, "As soon as help comes, we can go. Okay?"

The girl nodded and went back to her seat. Heather turned her gaze out towards the window. She hoped that someone would come. Not for her but for the kids. She needed to get them home to their parents.

~0~0~

Jake could feel himself faltering and he was trying hard to stay awake and move with an injured leg. Sari was helping him and he knew that if she had the mind to, she would have hoisted him up over her shoulder and carried him like he was a sack of potatoes. He knew because she actually did that when they were kids and he never thought in a million years she would have been able to do that.

_It was a stupid thing to do but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides Stanley gave the challenge. They were going to do the 'obstacle course.'_

_ It was simple follow the leader through the old back lots of the salt mine. Stanley said that Sari couldn't run along the ridgeline. She did and showed him up. That led to Jake and Stanley following along. Jake slipped Stanley lost his footing trying to grab Jake and both fell. Jake sprained his wrist and Stanley broke his leg. They were in trouble._

_ It was Sari who hauled Stanley to his feet and then put him over her shoulders and made Jake follow her. When they got closer to town, she put Stanley down and Jake helped her support Stanley. It had been a fracture but it did lead to some serious grounding time for all three of them._

_ "I can't believe you carried Stanley all the way back."_

_ "Hidden talents JJ."_

_ "Unless you're working out."_

The memory kept Jake focused on moving since he really didn't want to have her carry him like that though the prospect was tempting. He stood up straighter and made the effort to help her a little since she was carrying two bags of stuff and hell bent on getting to where the kids were leading them. He felt a pinch and he said, "I'm awake."

Sari replied, "I know. Just checking." She said nothing more about that as she looked at the kids guiding them and she asked, "Are we almost there?"

"I think so."

Jake would have rolled his eyes in exasperation. That was the thing with kids. However Sari replied, "That's okay. We're right behind you."

Sari had infinite patience which Jake knew extended to just about everyone and everything. He knew that she was really good with kids and they seemed to like her. He couldn't help but give a slight chuckle at that. It earned him a pinch that was more playful than medical so he knew that she was thinking of the same thing.

One of the things Jake did miss while he was away was that she could be so happy in spite of the troubles she had. Even when Paul was at his worse, she always had a smile on her face. She was the kind of person to find something good even out of a bad situation and spin it so that anyone around her would be happy. There were times when Jake found himself wishing for that while he was doing what he did.

He didn't doubt that she was the life of the party with whatever she did. He didn't have trouble imagine her doing humanitarian work. That was Sari all over; kind hearted and someone who wanted to help. "Still the chirper aren't ya princess?"

"Try to be," Sari replied as she gave a slight huff and hoisted the bags up higher. "And you are always a joker."

Jake couldn't help but chuckle at that. He did make jokes but only around her and a few choice friends. He looked ahead and could make out in the dusk the shape of a school bus. The kids were whimpering about the dead deer and how the driver hit it. He said, "Okay don't look at it."

Sari let him go at that point and hopped on board and made a beeline to the first downed person which was the drive. With an expert hand she checked for a pulse and all sorts of signs. She moved the driver to one of the empty seats and turned to see a woman about her age, give or take a couple of years, and she looked to be in pain. She asked, "Are you alright?"

~0~0~

Heather had been about to give up on the fact that anyone was coming when she heard voices outside the bus. The two students that went for help came on and they were followed by a tall woman with shoulder length brown hair. She was toting two bags which she placed on the ground near her feet and went to check out the driver.

Heather had never seen the woman before but she reminded her of her friend Emily who could take charge of things in the midst of chaos… well when that chaos involved a school function of some sort. From the sounds of things, Heather could make out one other person that was there. She couldn't see who it was but at that moment her attention was being called to the woman who was looking at her and asked, "Are you alright?"

Heather could see the concern in her eyes and saw that this was a good person and could be relied upon. She said, "My leg. I think it's broken but don't worry about me," and she looked at the kids, "worry about them."

The woman turned and gave a look to her companion and Heather saw a man with dark hair come up the stairs. From the look things Heather could tell that he was injured too from the amount of blood on his head. She watched as he talked to the kids and asked if there was anyone else hurt and hurried back to where one of the little girls was injured. Heather turned to look at the woman who was looking at her leg and said, "Aren't you going to help him?"

The woman replied, "I can't have a teacher be a martyr to pain. He can handle it." She bent over to feel the leg.

Heather marveled at how gentle the touch was even though the woman had a firm grasp of her leg. It was rather strange at first but it was soothing since the pain seemed to lessen.

"I need ice."

The woman looked up and grabbed one of the bags and handed it to one of the kids to take to her friend. She went back and opened up the other bag and took out an ice pack and broke it to start the process and placed it on Heather's leg. She said, "It's not a bad break I don't think but this will help keep the swelling down until we get back to town."

"You're pretty good at this," Heather commented. She observed the quickness the woman had for strapping on the ice pack.

"I had plenty of practice," the woman replied with a slight smile. "My sister Ryan used to get quite a few scabs on her knees. I was the doctor for her." The woman took out tape and strapped the pack to the injured leg.

"You're Sari then," Heather replied. "Ryan tells stories about you and what you did for kids in the Middle East."

"That's me though I think Ryan may have gotten a few things wrong," Sari replied. "What's your name?"

"Heather. Heather Lisinski," Heather replied as she held out her hand. It was grasped by Sari's hand.

"Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise." Heather smiled at Sari. They could become friends and she looked forward to it.

At that moment the smile they were sharing was broken by Sari's friend saying, "Sari."

~0~0~

The little girl's windpipe had been bruised from the collision and was swelling up. Even Jake could tell that she was having trouble breathing. He needed to get the swelling down so that it wouldn't restrict her breathing. He called back to Sari, "I need ice."

He watched as without a word, Sari got up from what she was doing and grabbed one of her bags and handed it to the nearest kid and motioned for them to bring it to him. He found the ice pack and smashed it to get it to start working and put it on the little girl's throat. He tried not to look like he was panicked since the girl was already scared that she was having trouble breathing.

It looked like it was going to work but her throat was already too swollen. The girl closed her eyes and stopped breathing. It was like Jake got hit with a ton of bricks as unbidden memories came up from another lifetime. He felt old feelings that he thought had been buried rise but he had to keep it together. It was hard since she was so little.

_Look at me JJ!_

_ Ry get off of there._

_ A scream sounded and Ry was gone. Jake raced to find Ry on the ground unconscious. She was so still that she looked like she wasn't breathing. It was transposed by another little girl lying on the ground. Her skin was darker, almost olive and her hair black since it peeked out from underneath her viel and she had blood coming from her head…_

Jake closed his eyes to focus. He knew the other kids were watching him and they were watching their classmate die. He knew what needed to be done but the first thing he said was, "Sari."

Sari knew that tone of voice and wasted no time. She gave a pat on the girl Heather's leg and grabbed her second bag and headed towards Jake. She glanced at the girl and knew that they needed to do a field surgery. Inwardly she winced at the thought. Even though she had done hundred of them herself, it was different when it came to a child.

She looked at the kids and asked, "Does anyone have a pen?"

"I have a pencil."

Sari gave a slight smile and replied, "No. I need something hollow like a tube."

"I have a straw."

Sari nodded and said, "Show it to me." When she saw that it was a juice box straw, she knew that one was too small. But if they had more than one… She looked at the other kids, "How many have juice boxes?"

About twelve or so held up juice boxes. This was better than Sari could hope for. She said, "Alright those with boxes, take off your straws and give them to…" She looked to the girl who had the first straw for her name. When it was given, she said, "Give your straws to Julie. Julie when you collect the straws I want you to tape them together with the band-aids in this bag okay?"

When she was sure that the girl understood, she turned her attention back to Jake. She said, "You've done a trachy before?"

"Yeah."

"Then you're gonna do one again," Sari replied as she handed him some alcohol swabs. "Use your knife."

Jake shot a look at Sari. He thought she was the one going to do it. She was the one who trained to be a field medic. Why was she putting him on the spot? It then occurred to him that he was the one closest and she was getting the gear he needed ready. She was being the backup… his partner. He pulled out his knife and started swabbing the blade with rubbing alcohol.

Meanwhile Sari had gotten into the seat towards Jake's right and was wiping the area on the girl's neck where Jake needed to cut. She was tapped on the arm by Julie who held up the taped straws together. Sari took them and smiled at Julie and said, "Very good." She then looked at Jake and asked, "Ready?"

Jake took in a breath and nodded. Before he felt tired but with the adrenaline coursing through his body, he was wide awake. He motioned for the boy to hold down the girl and to not look. He looked at Sari who was holding the flashlight. She was giving him a calm look of reassurance and that gave him courage to do it.

He held the knife and made a tiny incision in the throat. He heard Sari murmuring approval and reminders of what to do. It was helpful and he made the incision. It was quick work when she handed him the tubing and he inserted it. Once it was firmly in, he began to blow into the tube. He didn't notice how Sari started stroking the girl's hair as if she were trying to coax the girl into breathing.

Jake started feeling desperate when the girl didn't respond. He silently began praying for her to breathe. He didn't want to see another child die like that. He kept going and praying silently. His lips moved but no words came out. Just when he thought he was going to have to face the inevitable, the girl's eyes opened as she took her first breath through the tubing.

Jake felt the air rush out of his lungs as he saw her breathing. She was alive. He could feel the tears start to form but he held them back as he looked down at the girl. He smiled and gave a slight stroking with his finger on her cheek to let her know that it was going to be okay.

"You did good Jake."

Jake looked up at Sari who was smiling at him. Since the adrenaline was keeping him awake he was able to see that she was covered with dust from the highway and her hands had blood crusted on them. He returned the smile with one of his own. "Only because you made me."

"Wow where did you learn to do that?"

Jake and Sari looked at each other and Jake replied, "From the army."

"Were you a solider?"

"No just a screw up," Jake replied. In truth that was what he felt like. He glanced at Sari to find that she was giving him that look that Stanley said could scare a rooster into laying an egg. He knew that she never saw him as a screw up and he always wondered why. Sure he was the one who invited her into his group of friends when they were kids but she was the one who made him into a friend. He then glanced at her necklace and gave a slight nod.

Sari said nothing about what Jake referred to himself as. Part of it was from the pile of regrets and she could understand that feeling. She gave him the look to say what she felt but then turned her attention to the little girl. She smiled at her and began using band-aids to tape the trachy tube into place. It would do no good if it fell out from unexpected jostling.

"What about you?"

Sari turned to look at the boy who had asked Jake the questions. "About me what, sweetie?"

"Where did you learn that?"

Sari finished applying the band-aids and looked at the boy. She replied, "Same place. The army but I was with the Red Cross that kind of thing."

"Wow. Ryan said something like that about her sister."

Jake looked at Sari and teased, "You're famous."

Sari gave a mock scowl and pushed Jake to assess the bus. Now that the immediate crisis was abated, they had to get the kids back to town. The little one was going to need to be placed under a doctor's care to make sure that the throat healed and they could stitch up the trachy. She packed up her bags and made sure that nothing was out of place for the trip back into town and she began to make other assessments. She looked at the girl and said that she was going to pick her up and move her to the front of the bus.

It probably wasn't a good idea but if they got back to town, they were going to need to get her off first. The general rule of thumb was that the injured went first on a SAR. Then the others and the last one was the officer. It was different when going into a mission where the officer is always the first one out but it was common sense and decency there. Plus you needed the ones still standing to watch your back as well as the injured.

Gently, Sari lifted the girl and carried her towards the front of the bus. The kids that occupied the seat that she wanted were kind enough to move. They left their jackets there to make a pillow and she nodded in approval. The kids were pretty smart. "Good job," she told them. "Why don't you sit on the seat behind her? You just keep an eye on her while we're moving and let me know if anything is wrong. Okay?"

The two kids nodded and Sari checked on Heather. "How are you doing?"

Heather smiled and replied, "I've been better. Your ice pack works."

"It's supposed to," Sari replied grinning. She looked at Jake and asked, "How are we doing?"

Jake had checked to make sure that he had a clear way to sit at the driver's seat. He winced as he sat. The adrenaline was dying down and he was starting to feel the throbbing in his leg. He touched his leg and saw that he may have broken the clot and it was deep. His head was also throbbing again and he wasn't sure if he could handle driving the bus.

Sari guessed something was wrong and leaned in to whisper, "You doing okay?"

"Not really," Jake replied.

"You want me to drive?"

Normally that question would have been asked in a joking manner. However Jake knew that Sari was being serious. She was a good driver and he knew firsthand when she raced his Roadrunner against some punk kid's roadster in a drag race. If she hadn't, he would have lost it. Since then the joke was that she was a bad driver.

Jake knew that she would drive. All he had to say was yes. The thing was though she was the one with more medical know-how and she needed to keep an eye on the little girl. He replied, "I can do it. You need to keep an eye on the girl."

Sari glanced at Jake and did a visual spot inspection. She could see the dark stain on his jeans. She would give him a painkiller but she wasn't sure how that would fare on the road. The only way was to ask. She nodded and replied, "Do you need a painkiller?"

"Eventually… when we get back to town. Can you tell then that we're going to get moving?"

Sari nodded and turned towards the rest of the bus. "Okay everyone, we're going to get moving so take your seats. Everything is going to be fine."

It was first reaction to sit near the injured girl. It also put Sari in a position to see out the front and the side. Old habits did die hard even after five years. She looked at Heather and smiled at her and said, "Don't worry. We'll get back to town in no time."

Heather couldn't help but smile. She asked, "Are you always this confident?"

"I try to be. It helps channel focus to be optimistic. Something I guess school teachers are good at."

Heather liked Sari. It was nice to see someone that could manage to stay positive in light of a bad situation. She also admired how she stayed calm and the kids responded to that. They were scared but they seemed to know that things were going to be okay. Her friend was pretty awesome too since he did the surgery and now he was going to get them out of there.

Heather looked at Sari who was making darting glances as her friend started the bus and backed it up. She replied, "We have to be perky sometimes otherwise we would be cranky witches."

Sari continued to look around but she had been listening. She looked at Heather and replied, "I remember those times." She leaned forward and held the girl and Heather's leg steady as the bus lurched forward.

"You a doctor?"

Sari looked up at Heather and replied, "Field medic."

"Glad to have you along."

The two women shared a smile as the bus jolted forward down the road. Sari looked forwards and out the windshield into the pitch black of night. She had almost forgotten how different Jericho looked at night. She glanced at Jake who was driving and gave a silent look of encouragement while she stood up and went to check on everything. They were finally going home.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Gail was worried. As a mother she had every right to be worried. Her boy was out there and he could be hurt or worse. She always dreaded the day she would get that phone call from someone saying that her son was dead. It was a parent's worst nightmare and she prayed that Jake would be all right. She was doing her best to keep it together.

At the moment some of the other families and April were at the house. They were all scared about everything. They didn't know what was going on and the speculating was only making the level of fear in the room rise. Even Ryan was starting to look worried even though she was handling it better than most. At least she had the sense to put out candles in the room. It was better than sitting in complete darkness.

A knock at the door sounded and Gail went to open it. She found Dale standing on her step and the look on his face told her that something was wrong. A quick survey of Dale and Gail spotted he was toting a tape recorder. She was joined by Ryan who gave Dale a slight smile and tugged him in. Gail also helped but was given the tape recorder.

That was Gail's cue to play it. She took it to the center of the room to play it for everyone. She paused with some hesitation at the prospect of what could be on that tape. She glanced over at Dale who looked shaken but was holding together. Ryan was talking to him and he was nodding slightly to something she had said. Gail turned back towards the recorder and pressed play.

_Hi Dale. Sorry I didn't call sooner angel but we decided to stay in the city an extra couple of days…_

_ Put down the phone and come to bed._

_ Honey, stop that. It's my kid. Baby what are you staring out at the window?_

_ Get over here, take a look at this._

_ What is that? Oh my god!_

The crash at the end had everyone jumping. There was no need to voice what had happened. Dale's mother had been caught in the explosion. It was like hearing a very bad film and the mind was filling in the blanks. The crash and the sudden hush of the call… Gail couldn't help but feel the horror at what happened. She looked over towards Dale and said, "Oh Dale, I'm sorry. I didn't know your mother was in Denver."

Dale had heard the recording over and over in the trailer. He had spent the entire evening hearing it. He was trying to let it sink in that his mom was dead and that the only thing that he had of her was that recording. He looked at Mrs. Green and slowly the words formed, "She wasn't in Denver… She was in Atlanta."

Dale's declaration had implications that sent gasps throughout the room. That implied that the explosion in Denver wasn't the only one. The question remained as to how many more explosions were there? Everyone was looking around and asking what was going on and some were starting to panic in fear.

Dale had enough. He couldn't stand to be around those people. He didn't mean to shake off Ryan rudely but he sent apologies through the eyes. He had to get out of that house. He ran out and headed to one place that he was certain he could find some comfort. That sight lay in Gracie's store.

He arrived and after knocking on her door, she let him in. Dale poured out his whole story and she was like a shoulder to cry on. Then he noticed the cold stuff spoiling. He needed to get busy with something. Then he could think about the fact that his mom died. He went to the coolers and started taking the perishables outside.

"Dale, please don't steal from me. Dale." Gracie followed Dale outside and saw him stick it in her ice bin.

"There. So they won't spoil." Dale looked at Gracie.

Gracie looked at Dale and gave him a slight smile. She thanked him since she had never thought about what to do with her cold foodstuffs. Plus she sensed that he needed to keep busy since he was still trying to adjust to the loss of his mother. Personally she thought that Dale should have had a better mother. However the woman did provide for Dale so she couldn't fault her for that.

She followed Dale back inside and went to help move the perishables. There was quite a bit but between the two of them, they were able to put everything in the ice bins. They would keep cool and even if the ice melted, it would still stay cool because of the type of container it was. "Thank you Dale," Gracie said.

~0~0~

_The road ahead was nothing but dirt and rock. That was what it was like in the desert. It reminded Jake a bit like home; the long stretches of emptiness between destinations with each settlement like an island of relief. Maybe he did miss home more than he thought._

_ "Hey J you awake at the wheel or is it the farm boy driving?"_

_ Jake turned to see his partner in the passenger seat looking relaxed and carefree. That was betrayed by the habitual reaction of his partner rubbing his finger hear the trigger. Jake gave a slight grin and replied, "The question is whether you're awake, Thompson. You know I don't like being called that."_

_ "Right cause there's only one person allowed to call you that."_

_ Jake chuckled as he kept his eyes on the road. The cargo they were hauling was important and it needed to be gotten to the site somewhere in this damned desert… some army base that he forgot the name to. There was one other truck and it was full of the company that was guarding the cargo. "It's not that I don't appreciate the gesture it's just that it holds a lot of meaning for me."_

_ "High school sweetheart?"_

_ "God no. Just a friend. We were partners in everything we did growing up."_

_ Before Thompson could say anything, an explosion ripped through the area and the road in front blew up in front of Jake. He reacted as fast as he could to avoid the huge hole that had been blasted through. He saw flashes of gunfire and figured that insurgents were trying to rob them. They took a shot at anything they suspected was military._

_ The bullets were ricocheting off the armor plating. Jake muttered, "Things are bullet magnets."_

_ That was the harsh truth about armored vehicles. Jake really didn't want this assignment and while he would have taken the air cargo, that was full of risks too since taking shots at planes was also a fun thing for insurgents. Talk about wanting to see the world and wanting out of Jericho especially after that._

_ "Jake I think Smith is in trouble back there."_

_ Jake snapped out of his reverie long enough to process what Thompson was saying. He looked at his side mirror and could see that the second truck was holed up. He was ready to stop when the order came through._

_ Keep going._

_ Jake normally followed orders but this was his unit and he had command. He wasn't going to leave good men behind. He disobeyed and pulled back. Smith's truck was stuck and they got it out and were on their way. There were some minor injuries but all in all it was well. Then Jake looked at the gas meter._

_ Thompson had been looking at it too. He looked at Jake and asked, "Think we're gonna make it?"_

_ Jake knew that by going back he used quite a bit of his gas allotment. There was a good chance that they were going to be stranded out there. They did have a few gas cans extra but that might not get them very far. He had to make it though..._

Peering through the windshield, Jake felt like he was back in that cargo truck doing the job. It had him wondering if he was going to do a similar job on the one that he was asked to do before he headed back to Jericho. That was why he needed to get back to San Diego before all this started. It was going to be one last job and then that was it.

Staring out into the night, it hardly felt like anything changed. He felt like he was back doing that job but the only difference was that he had a massive headache, he was sleepy and his leg was on fire. Then again it wasn't that difference since he did once have to drive through enemy territory with a piece of shrapnel in his side. He could take it out until they reached their destination and by then he was ready to collapse.

Feeling his eyes start to droop, Jake jerked himself awake. He couldn't fall asleep or they would be in another accident. He had to get the kids back especially that girl. He looked up in the mirror and saw Sari looking down at the girl and smiling. He couldn't help but smile seeing her reassure the kids and doing what she trained to do. Feeling his head ache, Jake shut his eyes and opened them. He couldn't help but ask with a lopsided grin, "Do you have any coffee?"

_JJ why are you playing with the coffee pot._

_ I'm making coffee._

_ Let me try._

_ Alright. Hey that's too much._

_ No it isn't._

It was a fine time to be joking in Sari's opinion but even she was guilty of Jake's humor at times. She bent over to check Heather's leg and replied, "Only if you want something that passes for coffee and you don't want to know."

Sari looked up when Heather chuckled and asked, "Do you always have a joke for everything?"

Sari replied as she went to work, "Old memories. Some of it was silly, stupid stuff and certain friends never let you live it down."

"Tell me about it," Heather replied adjusting her leg as it began to feel more comfortable. She glanced over at the new driver of the bus. She could tell that he was trying to stay awake despite the injuries he must have sustained from some accident or another. Sari seemed confident that he would get them back so maybe she could go on the faith Sari had.

Sari was worried. True she believed that Jake could get them back but she was more concerned about Jake. He was holding up the best that he could but she could tell that he was suffering from the head trauma as well as the injury to his leg. She had no idea if it was worse than what she initially thought and was anxious to get him to April and the clinic. She sat in her seat and glanced at Jake while she thought about everything and nothing that seemed connected.

_It was like R&R for the team but it was going to end soon since their number was up for the next mission. Sari walked into the med bay where her field medic was prepping. He was always prepping stating that one couldn't be too prepared when it came to the job and the mission they were assigned to. He was checking and repacking his gear as usual when she walked in and said, "Looks like your prepping has paid off Harriman."_

_ Harriman looked at his CO and grinned. "Well I was a good boy scout and we were taught to always be prepared." He grinned even bigger when the joke produce a slight chuckle from his CO. He figured she needed to smile just a little bit more._

_ "And I appreciate it. You back me up even when I feel like I don't need it," Sari replied as she thumbed through the file she had been handed. They were a new set of orders and it looked like they were going to need everything in Harriman's arsenal._

_ "So we going out?"_

_ "Yep. Extraction mission. We move out at 2100 hours. Two teachers of girls' school and orphanage were kidnapped and we've been assigned to bring them back."_

_ "For two teachers LT?" Harriman looked at his commander with a questioning eye. He knew she came to him when she needed advice. She was good at her job but occasionally she needed a helping hand and it was at those times Harriman thought that she was looking for help from someone else._

_ "One is a US Marine and a third person is supposedly from the Agency," Sari replied using the one word that most people knew meant business. "Intel… the usual and they have been using the school as a front." She spat the last part out._

_ Harriman knew that was a sore spot with his CO. She believed in her missions but she was not naïve. It still angered her when peoples' lives were used to achieve other means. "I get it. The usual roundup?"_

_ "Yeah. Listen Harriman, I got a bad feeling about this one. I didn't say anything in debriefing but can you do me a favor?"_

_ "Anything. You know that LT."_

_ "Teach me what you know about field medicine."_

Sari had told the truth about training as a field medic but she didn't really say that she knew everything about it. Truth was she had done only one trachy and that was on her medic. He lived and was able to fire his weapon for that mission but in the end, she had more men hurt including the people she was supposed to rescue.

Seeing Jake bloodied up and struggling to do his job reminded her of that mission. Harriman had been her backup during those years just like Jake was before. It was a cruel reminder that sometimes the past never leaves people completely except a trail of regrets and memories that tend to shape a person into what they could become or are.

Sari turned to look out the side of the windows and saw a bus like figure on the side of the road. She didn't get a good look but it was painted a different color than yellow and she managed to remember the arrangement of the paint job. She glanced up at Jake and she could tell that he must've seen it too since the bus seemed to accelerate slightly. Turning towards the kids she smiled at them and some began to relax visibly.

It wouldn't do to get the kids scared about something. She inspected her bags that she had brought and found what she was looking for. She looked at the kids and asked, "Is anyone hungry?"

Several hands were raised and Sari got up and walked over to hand the small packets of peanuts that she had in there. She remembered buying a whole bunch of them in the airport at Denver before heading out. She had put them in there with the intention to snack on them and had completely forgotten she had stashed them in there. It was a blessing that she had forgotten about them since now she had a bus full of kids that were scared, tired and hungry.

As she walked through the bus handing out what she had, she caught a glimpse of Heather who had twisted in her seat to watch. It was an encouragement to see a smile and this coming from a woman she had barely met. Yet Sari felt like she could relate to Heather and hoped that once they got back to town, they could start on the normal business of becoming friends. She smiled back at Heather and handed her a packet before starting a walk up and down the aisle. It was a force of habit.

~0~0~

The town was in the dark. The leaders were looking at each other and people were looking and running every which way wondering what was going on. People were trying to get out of town and the line was forming at the pumps. The only source of light was coming from the headlights and people waited their turn.

People brought their gas cans and any container to hold fuel. The hoarding was starting already and it looked like it was going to get worse. In fact the shoving already started and some gasoline was spilt all over the ground.

"I've got a family."

"We all have families. Do you plan to share or not?" Hands started reaching out to grab full gas cans.

The shouts got louder and the people were shoving and one fist went flying. The whole crowd at the gas station was trying to get into the fight or get through to get their fair share of the gasoline. Some of the men were shoving each other back and forth hard. It was turning into a mob fight and it seemed like it was breaking out all over town.

Chief Carroll looked about the streets. The power was a problem but with the lights out it was making the situation worse. He was getting calls about fights breaking out all around town. The major crisis was over at the gas station. It was like a mob out there as they were fighting over gasoline. It was like being hit by an earthquake, a thunderstorm and a tornado all at once. He tried handing out assignments to handle the problem areas as best as he could.

Hawkins watched as Chief Carroll doled out assignments to address the problem areas. He liked the man and could tell that he was one to do what he thought was best for the people that he was servicing. However there was one thing that needed to be addressed if they were going to bring the chaos under control.

"Mr. Hawkins."

That was Hawkins' cue to head on over. He approached the chief and said up front, "We need to get some lights on or people are going to panic."

"People are already panicking Mr. Hawkins. All we have are flashlights."

Here was a chance to put to use some of the things that people tend to overlook. "But your town does roadwork at night right?"

Chief Carroll paused a moment. Hawkins was right. They had lights that produced enough illumination. That would help to cut down on some of the problems. "Alright Mr. Hawkins. Let's go."

Hawkins smiled and willingly helped to set up the roadwork lights. At the signal, the lights went on and the main street of town lit up. The crowd of people there was distracted by the lights turning on and upon seeing the familiar buildings appearing out of the darkness, they started to calm down a bit. They were still scared at not knowing what was happening that they had lost power and people were saying that they saw a mushroom cloud near Denver.

Hawkins looked around. At least that would reduce the problems that Chief Carroll had to deal with. He spotted Mayor Green and his son Eric walking through town and they were carrying something. Hawkins recognized it very well and knew how to use it. He checked to make sure that he wasn't needed and followed them into town hall.

~0~0~

Johnston carried the ham radio still feeling the urge to grumble a little about Oliver and his shenanigans. Eric listened while watching his father. He knew that cough wasn't just nothing and it sounded worse than what Johnston was making it out to be. He knew better though than to question and pester the man while he was trying to keep a terrified town from going crazy.

Eric looked at the thing that Oliver gave him to give to Sari. It looked like a piece of junk to him but then again he wasn't an expert in rocks. It was craggy on the service and it looked like it had been tossed into a fire pit of something. He had no idea that he was holding the piece of meteorite that they had found on one of their excursions out what Eric dubbed the middle of nowhere.

Johnston put the ham radio on the counter and instructed the officer there to set it up. It was a beat up piece of junk but it was the only one in town and he prayed that it would work. He looked towards Eric still holding that thing Oliver gave them and asked, "You still carrying that?"

Eric moved to put the meteorite on a table out of the way. Looking at it, he now could remember. He was the one that found it and Jake told him that it was a piece of the sky and that the sky would crash down on top of them.

_Yeah Eric, that is a piece of the sky. You know that story about Chicken Little? Well it's true man. The sky will fall down… right on top of your head._

_ Really? Eric's eyes bulged in fear._

_ No it won't. JJ is being an idiot, Eric. It's just a piece of a star. You know that song. The catch a falling star and put it in your pocket?_

"It's the meteorite we found as kids," Eric replied. "Don't worry it'll be out of the way." He walked away and became absorbed with other things that needed to be handled.

Johnston looked at the thing and wondered what in the hell his kids got into when he wasn't looking. His sons had been close when they were younger and they did have a few good times. His attention was directed to the sight of his wife Gail who came in. He could tell that she heard some bad news. His first thought was Jake. He made sure that they out of earshot when he approached her. He asked, "What is it Gail? Where's Ryan?"

"She's with April. Johnston, I just learned that there was another explosion in Atlanta," Gail replied. She was still digesting the news about Dale's mother. "Dale's mother was in Atlanta and she called just before…"

Things just became more serious as Johnston processed what his wife was telling him. If there was another explosion in Atlanta, then maybe their worst fears may be realized and that they were under attack. He wasn't going to broadcast it right now though. They still had to get the missing bus and the kids back to town. Then they could worry about the next step. He tried to reassure his wife.

"Johnston, how many more may have gone off? How many people that aren't here are out there?" Gail asked the questions in a whisper.

"I know."

"What about Jake?"

"We'll find them. We'll find them." Johnston hugged his wife in a reassuring manner. He prayed that there would be some news about his boy and the kids.

At that moment he was being called. He was told that there was a riot breaking out. Johnston suppressed a sigh and the cough that threatened. Another thing and another situation needed to get settled.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The bus lurched side to side as it went down the road. Jake winched slightly since his leg was being jostled in the same movement. He wanted to groan out in pain but he knew that he of he did, he would be scaring the kids unnecessarily. Instead he focused on the road even though he felt like putting his head down and resting. The one good thing about the pain in his leg though was that it woke him up enough. He shook his head and looked ahead.

Ever since he started the bus up, he had been reminded of that night when his convoy was ambushed. The darkness of the roads and the general state of being alert; they were all reminders of that time. Come to think of it he had been injured that time too.

_"J you don't look so good."_

_ Jake looked down to where he felt throbbing and saw a piece of shrapnel sticking out. That was just brilliant. He had to keep his mind on his driving though. He gripped the wheel and continued down the road. "I'll be fine. We just gotta make it in."_

_ "You think we're gonna make it?"_

_ Jake looked at the gas meter. It was running near empty. They had the few gas cans in case of emergencies. Even then they wouldn't get very far. "Get the cans prepped. We're gonna make it."_

Jake muttered to himself, "Stay awake," and looked at the gas meter on the bus. It was dropping towards empty. If the bus ran out gas, they were in trouble. He didn't think that the bus carried any spare gas cans. He had to ask and he glanced back at the teacher, "Does this bus have a gas can?"

Heather had been watching Jake for the past (how long was it?) and thought that he was really brave and strong to continue as he was doing while bearing injuries. She had heard him muttering to himself to stay awake and she suspected that his head injury was the primary cause. When he asked his question, she knew that something was wrong. She didn't think so and gave a slight shake of her head.

Jake had to explain why he was asking and he had to do it without panicking the kids. "The bus… If it stops…"

Heather got the hint. She slowly righted herself to turn and face the kids. Her leg was sore but thanks to Sari, it was not as sore. That didn't mean that it wasn't going to hurt. "Okay."

Facing the kids, Heather put on a reassuring smile for the kids. She looked at all the scared faces and made sure that they saw her face. "Kids, listen to me. If the bus stops again, we're gonna need you to walk back to town and get help. Okay?"

"I don't know where we are."

Sari heard the voice of the kid. It sounded frightened and a little petulant. She looked at Heather while she was checking the trachy. Jake did a good job and she knew the girl was going to make it. She gave a look of reassurance to Heather. She could have said something but these were Heather's kids and she knew them better than she did.

Jake had heard the entire conversation and said, "When you get to the stop sign, turn left. Alright?" He blinked trying to dispel the heaviness of sleep that kept threatening. He could actually feel the injury he sustained in the convoy and that was years ago. It was probably one of those phantom psycho things.

"Which way is left?"

Jake thought he had the rug yanked out from under him. He dropped his head in exasperation. What kid didn't know their right from their left? Hell he made sure Ryan knew that and she was four when she learned that.

Heather knew how to solve that. "Hold up your hands."

All the kids responded by holding up their hands. They knew that they were going to learn something. Ms. Lisinski knew how to make it easy to learn.

Heather also held up her hands. "Stick out your thumbs. The one that makes the 'L' that's your left." She smiled at the kids as they looked at their left hands. They would be okay if the worst should come to pass. She turned to sit back down.

"That was good."

Heather looked to see Sari looking at her with a smile. "One of the tricks of being a teacher. Keep it simple and with what they know."

"Sounds like something a parent should know." Sari said it in good humor. Observing Heather, she was feeling a little bit better about the monumental task of being a parent to her sister. Now that she was home, the reality was settling in to the fact that her mother and stepfather were gone and she was the one that was asked to step in and be the legal guardian to her little sister.

"I guess it could apply to both. The adult teaches and the child learns and sometimes it's the opposite," Heather replied.

Sari smiled a little. That did make sense. The truth be told that while she was being responsible as everyone seemed to think she was, she was actually terrified of the prospect. She was used to having someone depend on her to watch their back. That was what she did with her team. They depended on her to lead them through the missions. When she told them that she was leaving, they acted like she cut off one of their limbs.

_"What's up LT? We got another mission?"_

_ Sari looked at Harriman with a sideways glance. The trachy scar was almost nonexistent now. He looked back at her and gave a slight nod. She had talked to him first and asked his advice on how to break it to the team. She decided to follow through with it. She looked at her man that asked the question and replied, "No. Nothing like that."_

_ Sari looked at the men and one other woman that had gone into every mission they had been assigned. They had fought and bled together. What she had to tell them was going to hit them hard. She looked at them and began, "A situation has come up stateside for me and… well there's no easy way to say this but I have to resign."_

_ The looks on their faces was one of pure shock. They had never expected it. Her radio man replied, "You're just messing with us right LT?"_

_ Sari shook her head slightly and replied, "I'm not Quinlan. My parents died and I'm the closest living relative my kid sister has…"_

Now that she was here, Sari was able to acknowledge that she was scared of the job in front of her. She had no idea how to be a parent and unlike the armed services or any other job that earned a paycheck, this job didn't come with a manual. There were no instructions about what to do should a kid throw a tantrum or something like that. She wondered how her mother managed to do it and wondered if she was going to be as good or at least not screw up.

"You're in deep thought," Heather's voice sounded forth.

Sari looked over at Heather and replied, "Excuse me?"

"You're deep in thought," Heather repeated.

"Oh. Just thinking and old habits of keeping an eye out," Sari replied. It was a good cover. She didn't want to reveal too soon the fact she was afraid. It wasn't that she didn't trust Heather. It was more of a personal thing that was restricted to the realm of being family business.

Part of her upbringing was that whatever happened within the family stayed within the family. That was a bit of a problem in a town like Jericho where people knew each other and were usually in each other's business. That sometimes started rumors about people and it could irreparably damage reputations. That's what happened with her father. Her real father.

Sari was considered an army brat since when she was little. Her family moved around from base to base. So she didn't have many friends but the few she made, she learned from them about people. By the time she was six and they had moved to Jericho, she could speak English, Spanish, Arabic and a bit of German. It was one of the perks of being a kid since kids' brains seemed to absorb information.

They moved to Jericho because that was where her parents met and plus Mom decided that it was best to go where things would be familiar. Sari didn't know then that her father had been injured in his leg very badly and was also suffering from PTSD. She had been told to tell anyone who asked that he was sick.

When her father started to drink to chase away the memories, that was when the rumors started. He would often speak in Arabic to people and with the tensions the US was having then… that prompted suggestions that he was a sleeper cell terrorist or something equally insane. At least her father grew violent when he drank. Her mom made sure that she had never seen him at his worst and even managed to keep the hangovers from her.

Her father died from alcohol poisoning and it was just her and her mom. People said that the drink left her mom without a husband and was one of the reasons why the military kicked him out. Sari remembered some blonde girl named Alice that said that and as a result, she got a black eye. That came to her compliments of Sari. Then her mom met Paul and he sure did a snow job in getting her to fall for him. She said nothing about her thoughts out of the fact that she wanted her mom to be happy since she knew that she was lonely.

Sari knew right off the bat that Paul didn't like her. She didn't know why and tried to stay out of Paul's way. That didn't stop the verbal abuse that came her way. It was always given when her mother wasn't around. It was to the point where she was very quiet in class and almost invisible until the teacher called on her. Of course it didn't help that she was younger than everyone in the class since she was moved up a grade. That was when she met Jake and he started encouraging her to open up to people.

When Ryan was born, Sari had been happy. She devoted time and energy to her little sister and called her 'habibiti'. That thought pissed Paul off. It didn't take long for him to start on the things that she hid from everyone except Jake. People thought her mom and Paul were perfect and she was labeled a screw up.

Sari sighed as she looked forward. There would be plenty of time to get through that and work out her parenting abilities later. Right now she had to focus on getting the kids home. She glanced at Jake and saw that he was holding up well. She knew that if was still standing everyone would be standing in the end.

~0~0~

Even with the roadwork lights lighting up the main streets, people were still in a state of chaos. Mob mentality was setting in as people fought over essentials like food and gasoline. Chief Carroll had been called over to the gas station with all the trouble going on. He had left Hawkins in charge of the roadwork lights.

He had the driver put on the emergency lights and the siren and they blazed forward towards the gas station. At least some things people learned was still in play. People cleared the streets to let the truck move through. It was still a bit slow going since there were vehicles covering the streets. However they did manage to make it to the gas station.

Upon arrival, Chief Carroll dispersed his men to try and break up the crowd. His men weren't trained police men but they were strong men to make the barriers necessary to stop the looting and the mobbing. However it seemed like there wasn't enough men to help.

Gray Anderson surveyed the crowd. He felt the need to do something. He jumped into the cab of the truck and looked for the microphone. He took it and started bellowing out names of people that he knew, "Jerry Edwards. Carl."

It seemed that people were intent on being looters. Gray continued speaking into the microphone. His voice had been drowned out at first. Then he got drastic and shouted into the microphone, "Stop it!"

It was enough to draw the attention of the crowd. They turned towards the source of voice. That was enough to give Gray the clout he needed to have some influence on the town. He frowned as he said, "Yeah Marty I'm talking to you. You don't need to steal… Carl!"

Some people were still trying to get what they considered their fair share of goods and supplies. Gray realized he was going to have to shout in order to make his point and be heard. "Why are you turning on each other? Stealing from your neighbors? You are fighting the wrong people."

Gray saw the crowd calm down. Now he had some influence over the people of Jericho. He continued, "All I'm saying is that I think we need to get organized." He looked around and decided to abandon the microphone. He put it down and spoke loudly, "Look we are literally in the dark here. I don't know where the mayor is but maybe we should come up with a plan ourselves."

"What's going on Gray? You making speeches?"

Gray turned to see Johnston Green coming through the crowd towards him. "With all due respect Mr. Mayor, we have a missing bus, no police, firemen doing policemen's jobs." He raised his hands to gesture what Johnston was going to do.

Eric was in the crowd along with Gail Green having gone with Johnston when they got the radio report about the chaos at the gas station. However it was Eric who was enraged that Gray was taking advantage of a situation to further his own gains. "How dare you politicize this…"

"Eric," Johnston interrupted his son. He knew that Eric, while a bit more restrained than Jake, had just as quick a temper.

Gray countered, "I am not talking to my opponent. I am talking to my mayor. I don't care about the election! I care about survival! We just might be on our own here." He gestured to the people who were listening. "Now I need to know what my mayor intends to do."

The townspeople began murmuring in agreement. They wanted to know what the mayor intended to do. They heard that the sheriff and his men were out searching for the missing bus but so far there had been no news.

Johnston Green was no stranger to posturing before the masses for a campaign. He knew that Gray cared about the people but sometimes is seemed that the man was one to use every opportunity to his advantage. Johnston cared about the people and he knew that they had their problems and he tried to deal with it the best that he could. With what Gray was doing though, it seemed more like a nuisance. He stepped forward and responded, "Now folks I know we've been through a lot tonight. I wanna tell you something. I've been to big cities and to foreign countries but I would take the good people of…"

"The good people of Jericho over any other city," Shep interrupted, "We know Mr. Mayor. We've heard the speech."

Johnston reached down for the biggest crop of patience he could find. "Well Shep I don't hope you don't think I've been asleep at the switch." He looked at the man with a firm look. "We had all hoped that this was an accident but the unfortunate truth there was another explosion in Atlanta." It was hard to tell them but the people had to know.

The result was as to be expected. The people looked at each other in shock. There was another explosion? What was going on out there? Were they really under attack?

Johnston wasn't finished. He had to get the people to focus on what he and the police and fireman have been doing. "Now I've been trying to contact the governor." Unfortunately he had been drowned out by a few shouts. He still had to continue. "There is no report of anything happening in Topeka."

"How have you been getting reports without television?"

"What about New York?"

Johnston bit his tongue on that. Not everyone knew that they did have alternative means of getting information in and out of Jericho. "We don't know anything about New York."

"How are we going to get the power back on?"

Gray observed the scene before him. Johnston had been mayor for a long time. In the time of crisis it looked like he was failing to deliver on his promise of the well-being of this town. He had some ideas of what could be done. Things were falling apart and it seemed that Johnston wasn't able to keep what he had together.

"One at a time. Pleas just calm down," Johnston raised his hand in a calming motion. It seemed what he wanted to avoid was happening. Now that people knew there had been another explosion in Atlanta, they want to know where else had been hit and when they would get any form of communication back.

"Calm down? My boy is still out there!"

Johnston instinctively moved his hand to protect his wife and his son did the same thing. Tensions were starting to rise again. "The sheriff is out there right now looking for your boy and my boy."

"Why don't we have more police officers out there?" Teresa asked the question. The worry was lining her face.

"We need to know what you're going to do now," Shep shouted over the babbling of voices.

The babble started to rise as more questions were being asked. Johnston tried answering as well as Gail. They were trying to reassure various people that things were going to be okay when there was a distinct noise coming from the edge of town. It became louder and everyone turned in the direction of the noise. It was a sight that the parents were most grateful to see.

~0~0~

Jake kept a steady eye on the gas tank. It was some reassurance that the teacher had explained to the kids that if the bus happened to stop again that they were to walk back to town. However he wasn't particularly thrilled if that came to be. He had been stranded before and it wasn't the greatest thing to hike back to home base on foot especially if you were traveling through desert.

Thinking back to that memory of the convoy, he remembered that they made it back. The truck he was driving was puttering on fumes as it rolled in followed by Smith's truck. He had remembered sitting in the truck after the cargo had been unloaded and taken wherever. That was when somebody noticed he hadn't been moving and realized that he had been injured.

Again that phantom pain came and he resisted the urge to reach for the area where the shrapnel had embedded itself. He did feel the pain in his leg though from the laceration. He also felt the throbbing in his head from the cuts and where he hit it somewhere on his Roadrunner. He kept muttering to himself to stay awake.

It was a relief to see the familiar buildings of town emerge. Jake checked the tank. He was probably on fumes but he made it to town and got the kids back. He noticed a fire truck and a huge crowd gathered around the gas station. He figured that it was probably a result of whatever that explosion was. He did the only thing that seemed logical. He honked the horn. He kept honking it as he brought the bus in to a halt.

The people were crowding around as he shoved the lever to the door open and said, "Help them! Help em!"

He took a breath as one of the firemen came on board and was drawn by Sari's waving hand. Jake leaned back in his seat and glanced back at the teacher. She was smiling in relief that the kids were safe and help would be gotten for the ones that needed it. Through the haze, he realized that he didn't know her but he did admire her courage in keeping calm. "What's your name?"

Heather looked at Jake and replied, "Heather."

"Jake."

"It's nice to meet you Jake." Heather couldn't help but smile. Jake after all got them back to town safely and managed to save one of her students from death. There was something about him that had her wanting to know more. Now was not the time though. There would be time for that later.

Jake smiled in reply, "You too."

Jake watched as the kids left the bus one by one. He could see and hear the relieved parents reach and grab their kids. Sari's comment from earlier resounded in his ears. _You did good Jake._ Maybe he did do good those two times but there were still a lot of things that he didn't do so good on. He had a long line of screw ups and that seemed small compared to the things he had done.

"Mommy's right here. Mommy's right here honey."

Jake watched as the mother of the girl with the trachy cried tears of joy that her daughter was safe. It didn't seem to matter at the moment that her daughter had a hole in her throat to help her breath. The most important thing was that she was alive.

The next person to come out was Heather and she was helped out too. Jake gave her a smile of encouragement. She really was a trooper. She was probably far better with courage than some of the people he had met in those days. She was also one of those people that seemed to find something to smile about not matter how dire the situation.

Then Jake saw a sight that made him feel like all was forgiven. His parents had come and his mother called his name. He replied, "Mom."

That didn't stop her from rushing towards him and exclaiming over his injuries. He tried to reassure her but he knew that no matter what he said, she was going to fuss over him. She did so as she helped him down along with Eric and they went to the nearby ambulance. Well he hobbled along the way. Once he was settled and his mom had told Eric to bring his wife over to the medical center he had to let Eric know, "Eric there's a prison bus on Cedar Run." He grimaced as the EMT eased him onto the gurney.

"God look at you. You're a mess."

"Stop worrying about me."

"Well good luck with that." Gail grabbed Jake's hand. "I was afraid I wasn't going to see you again."

Jake looked at his mother. To feel her hand in his was a comfort. "Come on, do you think that I would let Dad have the last word?"

"Hey. Quit talking about me," Johnston's voice sounded. He looked at his eldest son. Jake had left a screw up and now he could see that he was serious about making changes. He gave a slight smile at his eldest. "You did a great thing out there."

That meant more to Jake than he could possibly imagine. "Thanks."

"Your grandfather would have been proud." Johnston wanted to say more but he just couldn't find the word. "I'm gonna go find out what's going on," and he left out of Jake's view.

It was replaced by Sari crossing into view with a slight smile on her face. She was holding her bags in front of her. In all the hubbub of getting the injured off and kids back to their parents, she had been forgotten but she was fine with that. The big reward was seeing the result of the work. What she saw between Johnston and Jake was a start of mending that fence. She looked at Jake and said, "Well done, JJ." She made the slight hand sign they had to indicate 'partners.'

* * *

**A/N:** They are back to town at last and Jake's the hero!


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Gail was so happy that Jake was alive but to see him look like a mess… She was going into full fussy mother mode. She couldn't resist holding onto Jake's hand as if to reassure herself that Jake was there with her. She had lost him before and she got him back. She was not about to let him go again.

When Johnston came to check on Jake, she knew that her husband was very proud of Jake. She also knew that he wasn't big on sharing his feelings. Often he liked to get straight to the point with things or say something else but the intent and meaning was there. She knew that he was proud and glad that Jake was all right.

"Well done, JJ."

Gail turned to see Sari there holding two tightly packed bags. She was looking at Jake with a slight smile. It was a smile that conveyed pride. Gail noticed though that Sari's hands had crusted blood on them but she didn't seem to be in pain. She wasn't going to say anything about it.

Jake grinned back at Sari. She actually called him by the nickname she saddled him with. She also gave their special sign for partners. He couldn't help but joke, "You know I go away for a few years and the whole town goes to hell."

Sari just gave a tolerant shake of her head while Gail closed her eyes and said softly, "I'm glad you're home," and kissed Jake's hand.

Jake wasn't so sure if he shared that feeling. He couldn't leave town now with everything the way it was. Jericho was going to need all the hands it could get. "We'll see about that." He kept looking at Sari who looked like she was waiting for something.

"Well I hate to interrupt but I'll be going now," Sari said. She smiled and was prepared to walk away. She paused a moment and fished a bottle out of her jacket pocket. Chuckling she turned and called, "JJ." When he responded, she tossed him the bottle. It was standard pain pills but she remembered when she asked if he wanted one. She had pulled them out of her bag and put them in her pocket just in case.

"Thanks, princess," Jake replied smiling a little sleepily. Since she was using nicknames, he decided he could do the same. It would be like old times. They were partners once again. The necklace with the old ring around her neck was reassuring.

Sari waved and turned to walk. She had to get back to Ryan and be a parent. She would tell her sister that Jake was all right. Maybe in the morning she could head over to the clinic and give April a hand with the patients there. She wasn't a doctor but she could provide assistant… even clean icky bedpans if necessary.

"Sari."

Sari turned back. It was Gail that had called to her. She turned to face her fully and give her the respect she deserved.

Gail looked at Sari and mouthed 'thank you'. Out loud she said, "Meet us at the clinic."

"I need to be getting to Ryan," Sari replied as she smiled. "Just glad to be of help Mrs. Green. JJ, stay out of trouble." She pointed with her finger in a mock warning gesture.

"Please," Gail asked as she looked at Sari.

Sari understood. She gave a slight nod and replied, "Let me check on Ryan and I'll be over." She didn't realize that part of that request had to do with the fact that she had Jake's blood on her hands. It didn't occur to her that Gail thought she had injured herself. She stood there though and waited until the EMTs shut the doors and vehicle drove away.

Even with the apparent chaos that was starting to disperse, Sari managed to appreciate the place that she would probably always call home. There was a reason why Mayor Green chose the people of Jericho over those of any other town or city. There were good people there with good heads on their shoulders and they cared about their town and the people. There were a couple she could say a few choice words about but essentially she loved this town.

There were probably a few people who thought that she was crazy for anything nice to say about the town. They probably were the busybodies but Sari held no grudge with them. What was done was done and this was how things were. At least she was home and she had her sister. She started walking towards home laughing to herself at the fact that she left with wheels and was returning on foot. Maybe later she might be able to recover the bike… after things were taken care of with the town.

She started forward down the familiar streets taking in the fact that the chief had gotten smart in lighting up the town with the roadwork lights. It was a joke when Jake said it but the town did literally go to hell because he left. It was probably a coincidence and maybe it was a divine thing. After all if they hadn't come back when they did, they would have probably been in one of those cities hit by an explosion. Being muddled in her thoughts, she didn't pay attention to where she was going and ended up bumping into someone. She stopped to apologize, "I'm sorry."

Hawkins felt the bump and it was instinct to turn around and strike whoever it was that did that. However he didn't since he didn't want to arouse suspicions nor start up trouble that could bring back the chaos that had been abated. Instead he turned to see a young woman with two tightly packed bags and dark brown hair. She looked apologetic for bumping into him but for anything else that remained to be seen. At least that was how she was holding herself. He smiled and replied, "No harm done."

"Just checking," the woman replied.

Hawkins studied her for a moment. There was something about her that he couldn't quite place. He extended his hand, "Robert Hawkins."

She looked at him before switching her bags to one hand and gripped his with hers. "Sari."

Hawkins smiled in politeness, "No last name?"

"Not important," Sari replied. "Nice to meet you."

Hawkins sidestepped to let Sari pass. As she started forward it was then he noticed the blood on her hands. He just smiled and let her pass. She was a curiosity and he wanted to find out more about her. There would be time for that later thought. He needed to get his family settled in their house and carry on. He watched her leave before turning to check and see if he was needed for anything else, then he would go. He would come back in the morning.

Sari meanwhile pondered the stranger. As far as she could tell, he was a newcomer to Jericho. She was certain because he had asked for a last name. If he had been in town for a while and when she had been there, he would have known that she never used her last name. The only exception was when she joined the Navy since they needed a last name. It wasn't that she wasn't proud but it was a more of a self-protection thing and her way of asserting the fact that she never took the Harrison name.

Still Robert Hawkins piqued her interest in terms of what he was doing in Jericho. Maybe it was a paranoia thing that was starting to assert itself and a sign that she had been on way too many missions. Yet that cautious act was what kept her out of serious trouble and it was telling her that she should pay attention to the comings and goings of the townspeople. She brushed that to the back of her mind though as she made her way through the streets to the Green house since she had left Ryan with them when she went to look for Jake.

She found her sister asleep on the couch and she smiled. Even though her sister had grown the last five years, Ryan still looked like a little girl. Putting down her bags, she kneeled by the couch and used a lock of Ryan's hair to tickle her nose. Sari chuckled as she watched Ryan's nose twitch so she kept at it.

Ryan frowned as she tried to bat away whatever was tickling her nose. Getting frustrated, she opened her eyes sleepily and in annoyance. She turned to see her sister smiling at her and holding one of her locks and teasing her with it. She was wide awake then and reached out and grabbed her sister in a hug. "Sari, you're back! Did you find JJ?"

Sari embraced her sister glad to see her. She was glad that Ryan was not one of those kids that had been on the bus. She could understand better how the parents of those kids felt. She gave a tight squeeze and replied, "I did find him. He's hurt but not bad. He did a good thing today."

"Really?"

Sari nodded. "A school bus…"

"He brought the kids back? Cool beans sis. Just like when I was little."

Sari nodded remembering the kids then too. She then remembered that Ryan had been telling stories about her at school. She was going to have to find out about that but that could be done later. "He did good. He's over at the clinic and I'm going to go over there right now. You're going to be okay by yourself?"

Ryan wanted to go. "Can I come?"

"April needs help over there," Sari replied. She saw the infamous pout form on Ryan's face. Few people were ever able to say no to that. "I know you want to see him but you'll get to see lots of Jake."

"How do you know? He could take off again."

Sari looked at nothing in particular and then at her sister. "Somehow I get the feeling that people aren't going to be doing much traveling from now on so there is no immediate worry about him leaving. I'm just going over to help and make sure everyone is okay."

Ryan sighed. That was the thing about having a big sister as cool as Sari; she always could defeat you with logic. Most adults were like that but that didn't mean that Ryan had to like it. "Okay. I guess you gotta be the grownup now."

"I've been an adult for quite a while," Sari replied smiling. _At least where it concerned myself._ "So you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah. Tell JJ I'm glad he's okay." Ryan settled back on the couch. The sleepiness was taking over again and she yawned.

Sari continued to smile as she watched her sister fall back asleep. "I will habititi."

~0~0~

"Are you sure you're all right Sari?"

Sari scrubbed her hands vigorously at the sink she was shown. She should have known that Gail Green would not only go motherly on Jake but on her if she suspected any injury. "I'm all right Mrs. Green. I just didn't have anything to wash it off with out there."

She refrained from saying that it was Jake's blood. There was no reason to scare the woman any more than necessary. She had already been pushed to the brink with Jake and his injuries. She just continued to scrub her hands under the running water and watched as the red and brown funneled down the drain. It was then she felt a slight prick on her hand.

"Knowing you, you probably had a bottle of water and gave it away," Gail replied holding a towel. She smiled at Sari. At least she changed out of her bloody shirt and into scrub wear. "I'll wash your things for you."

Sari was glad that her back was towards Gail. She examined her hand and found a tiny sliver of glass. She figured she must've gotten stuck when she pulled Jake out and she didn't notice it. It was on the back of her hand and even though it was tiny, she could see it. It was a marvel that she hadn't scratched anyone else. She was aware that Gail was talking to her and she replied, "Oh… thanks Mrs. Green." She thought about how to best get it out.

Being a mother, Gail knew when children were hiding something that could potentially be serious. She couldn't begin to tell how many times her boys hid the signs of fighting or signs that they got into things that they shouldn't have. She could tell that Sari hadn't heard a word what she had been saying and walked over towards the sink. She saw Sari looking at her hand and saw the fresh blood oozing from her hand. "And when were you going to mention that you were hurt?"

Sari did her best to look contrite, "I didn't know until I washed my hands Mrs. Green."

Gail gave the look that Sari knew Jake would cower under. Sari was made of tougher stuff but then again she was smart enough to know when to pull and when to give. Sometimes it didn't always work out. This time Gail was going to win. "Right and I'm sure you thought you were careful."

"I did?" Sari shrugged her shoulders in an apologetic fashion.

Gail gave her the look as she took Sari by the hand and told her, "Sit."

Sari raised her brow but obeyed while holding her hand. She watched as Gail pulled out a suture kit. When Gail sat across from her, Sari ventured, "Aren't you going to get Super Doc?"

"You seem to forget that I was a nurse once. Besides I've taken care of more scraped from the four of you combined." Gail put on a pair of gloves and picked up a pair of tweezers. "Now you're going to sit there young lady and let me take care of this. Then we'll see if April needs your help."

Sari held out her hand. She could easily dress it herself. Hell she did it when Ryan got scrapes and bumps and bruises. However she knew when to back down and that was when a mom was on the war path. Besides it felt kind of good to have someone worry over something minor like a glass sliver. She didn't mean anything against her own mom but in high school, she wished her mother had been more in tuned to what was going on.

Gail held Sari's hand and the tweezers and peered at the wound. It made a gash before becoming embedded and it wasn't deep at all. Carefully she gripped the visible end of the sliver and gently tugged. It was stuck in there and held on. She saw Sari's hand twitch from the tag. She tugged harder and finally it came free.

Gail held it up and looked at it before putting it in the dish. She looked at Sari's hand which started to bleed again. No stitches were required but it was going to be sore due to the angle the cut had been made. Using the rubbing alcohol, she cleaned the wound and bandaged it up. "There. Just like when you cut your knee when you came home from college. You said you fell off your motorcycle." She looked at Sari with a slight look of suspicion.

Sari remembered that. Actually she had been cornered by Jonah and he tried to 'persuade' her to roll with his boys. He used his muscle to threaten her and she managed to fight him off. Jonah told her that if she wanted to be friends with Emily, she had to be in good with him.

He only wanted her brains for his own use. That and the fact that she knew the ins and outs of the places that he wanted access to in Jericho. She refused time and again and took to keeping her meetings with Emily at public places. She had been on her way to one of those girl things when Jonah cornered her. She ended up being pushed into… she couldn't remember but she was clipped at her knees. It was a fairly deep gash and she was down.

That was when Jake stepped in. That was part of the meeting. Along with Stanley, they were supposed to go on a road trip to one of the forests outside Jericho for their annual expedition that started when they were high school. She was supposed to bring the essentials which were currently in her bag.

Jake came in and started shouting at Jonah. Sari remembered feeling relieved and happy that he came. She knew he would figure something was up if she didn't show up at the appointed time. She clutched her knee which was throbbing while he cussed Jonah out. She had also been scared; not for herself but for Jake.

Luckily for them, Jonah backed down. Jake teased her saying, "You get some new fans at college?"

Sari could only give him the look as she tried to get to her feet. They made it to the Green house and Gail put up a fuss. Rather than say Jonah attacked her, Sari lied and said that she fell off a motorcycle. For some strange reason, the Greens swallowed that fib and Gail cleaned the wound and April did the stitching.

Sari looked up at Gail after flexing her hand slightly and replied, "That was an accident Mrs. Green just like this." She gave a slight smile.

Gail eyed Sari. She suspected something had happened that day and it wasn't an accident. Jake had this look on his face that said he was angry about something. She was certain the glass sliver was from something that had been broken. Something happened out there and it had to do with the condition that Jake was in. "Alright. You need to keep that clean and covered until it heals over. I don't know what you can do…" She took the gloves off and threw them away.

Sari grasped her hand and flexed it. It was sore now that the adrenaline died and she was away of it. It didn't hurt as bad as other injuries she had sustained. She could just imagine how Gail would react if she knew the truth. She smiled and replied, "I'll talk to Super Doc. I'm sure there is something I could do. I'd like to check on the trachy."

Gail was quick to respond, "She's doing fine. Down the hall to the right."

Sari smiled and left the room after handing over her shirt. The jeans were fine. "I'll only stay for a while. Ryan."

Gail smiled as Sari left. She threw the shirt into a plastic bag and put it where she could grab it later. She would go and check on Ryan and try to get a little bit of sleep. Then she would come back and check on Jake. Right now Sari would take care of everything.

Sari followed Gail's direction and looked in on the little girl. She didn't bother to go in but instead watched as the girl's mother stayed by her side. She smiled as she remembered how Jake did what he had to in order to save the poor girl. She always believed Jake to be capable of good things. Most of those good things people rarely got to see and that was what made it hard to believe that he wasn't the write off people assumed.

April spotted Sari and joined her. She said, "She's going to be fine. Once the swelling goes down, we'll stitch up the wound."

"That's good," Sari replied as she leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed. "I'm just glad that nothing more serious happened and that the kids are safe." She gave a slight sigh, "I remember when Ryan was that size and she got into the usual kid trouble but I never liked to see her cry."

April smiled and put a hand on Sari's shoulder. "Well quick thinking and action helped."

"Jake did all the work. I was just there to watch."

April gave a slight chuckle. From Eric's stories, Sari and Jake were the partners in crime and they shared equal blame but somehow they managed to get off with light sentences. "Well I guess Jake was lucky that you were there."

"Hmm… April do you need me to do anything? I know I have this," Sari showed her bandaged hand, "But I can wear gloves."

There was always work to do but April had other ideas. She replied, "I have plenty of people but if you want to stick around, I think there are a couple of people who would just like someone to talk to down the hall." She left before Sari could say anything.

Sari stood up straight puzzled. Why would Mrs. Green tell her to stay if they didn't need anybody? She might as well go home and get sleep. She started walking and flexing her hand. It was really sore. Maybe an ice pack and crashing on the couch at her new house would help. Then…

"You lost princess?"

Sari stopped and turned to look. She was right by the room they dumped Jake in. He was looking better than when he did throughout the whole bus trip back. She smiled, "Not lost, just puzzled."

"Don't tell me the mastermind of our operation is out of ideas. I thought she always had a backup plan," Jake teased in mock shock. He was feeling a bit better now the dull throb in his head had lessened. His leg was doing better too.

Sari gave a slight smile as she moved to stand in the doorway. "You know Stanley started that rumor. I'm just the tagalong."

"You know that's not true princess."

"I know. I just like making you say that," Sari replied. She made the decision and walked in and sat down in the vacant chair. "I would have thought your mom would be keeping vigil, JJ. She certainly had a death grip on you."

Jake gave a slight smile. "Funny you should say that. She said that an extra pair of hands was coming. Next thing I know, you're wandering around like you're lost."

"Your mom has a mean sense of humor." Sari lifted her injured hand and flexed it gently while massaging it. She probably should leave it alone but strapping always made her itch. It was probably a phobia thing or psychosomatic thing.

Jake noticed the bandage and asked, "You okay? Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

Sari put her hand in her lap. She replied, "I didn't know. It was a tiny sliver of glass. I must've scraped some glass when I pulled you out of the Roadrunner. No big deal. It just scraped at an odd angle."

Jake accepted that. She probably didn't notice and her hands were covered with blood and dirt. He then said, "Thanks."

Sari looked up. "For what?"

"For being there."

"You must've hit your head harder than I thought Jake Green. I thought I made myself clear before the bus dumped you here."

Jake was well aware of that. However five years of regret made you think and rethink a few things over. One of those things was that a lot of times, neither of them said a word of thanks, him more than her, when they pulled each other out of the fire. He tried to explain, "You did, Sari but I think you could stand to receive a word of thanks every now and then. I should have given it to you more often especially after…"

Sari studied Jake for a moment. In her mind it was always unspoken that thanks didn't need to be given since they were partners. Yet there was something pleasant about occasionally receiving a thank you. "You know we're partners JJ. My thanks was the fact that you were around to see another day."

"You never do ask for much."

"Well someone taught me how to fend for myself or trust in the best partner in the whole world." Sari smiled as she stretched out to get more comfortable. "You did good JJ. I'm glad it was you to drive the bus. I would have freaked."

Jake knew that it wasn't true. He thought Sari to be capable of staring down a grizzly with the same cool she used when dealing with everything else that was rough. She did have her moments though when she had to lean on someone and he was there. "Nah. You would have made it."

They talked until sleep overtook both. It had been an exhausting day. Unknown to both of them, it was only the beginning of what was to come in the morning.

* * *

**A/N:** Another chapter and Jake gets patched up. Thanks to all who have been reading and reviewing.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

It was early but it was force of habit that had Sari up and looking out the window. She had heard the description by Jimmy's kids. She hated to think that the worst had happened but she couldn't afford to waste time on the what ifs. That was the kind of thing that messed you up in the line of work that she did. She fished her phone out of her pocket and was surprised that she hadn't lost it and that it was still intact.

She flipped it open to take a look at the last text she had received. She had hoped that she would be forgotten or word would get back that she was no longer in the service. Yet it seemed that they were determined to keep her hands in the pot. She read the message again and she felt obligated to respond. She typed out her message and hit the send button and prayed that maybe with the chaos, the link was down. Then she would be left alone. She wasn't to get her wish.

_Glad you made it. New orders for you: Listen._

It looked like an ordinary text but Sari knew what it really meant. She was actually surprised that she even got through at all. She sighed as she looked out at the sky. She remembered the first day she was issued her phone and what happened that day.

_Sari had no clue why she was being summoned but orders were orders. She was to present herself in uniform at 0900. Well she was here and her natural curiosity was running amok. It reminded her of all the times Jake and Stanley goaded her into following through on that impulse whether it was with the bugs, the pranks or even the birds and the bees thing. She remembered how embarrassed she was when she asked questions regarding puberty._

_ It was a nice diversion until the aide to the CO said that she was clear to go in. She entered the office and was surprised to see the CO standing and looking like he was going to be thrown out of his own office. Her instincts kicked on and while she was tense enough to get into a fight, she knew that it wouldn't get to the level. It was force of habit after the training with the SEALS. She asked, "Sir?"_

_ "Lieutenant, have a seat," the CO said._

_ Sari was quick to obey. She sat in the seat that she was motioned to sit in and placed her hands in her lap. She heard the CO walk out of the office and heard the door click shut. She turned her attention to the man sitting at the CO's desk. She had been left alone with a strange man and she didn't recognize who he worked for. She looked at him and took in the dark hair and eyes. He was wearing fatigues so she could assume he was in the service but appearances could be deceiving and sometimes they had visitors at base who opted to wear utilities. She didn't say anything and sat there. She wouldn't speak until she was spoken to._

_ It worked since the man gave a smile and said, "Letting the other player make the first move. Very good, Lieutenant. Tell me: do you know why you are here?"_

_ "I was given orders to report here. Nothing else."_

_ "And you didn't try to find out?" The question was asked in curiosity rather than in anger or anything else._

_ Sari looked at the man and replied in a firm voice, "I don't know what it is like where you are from sir but out here, you follow orders or people die. You don't question them and you try to carry them out within the best of your ability."_

_ "So sometimes you don't exactly follow orders."_

_ "There is leeway. As long as you complete the mission, you make the decisions," Sari replied firmly._

_ The man studied her for a moment. At first Sari thought she was going to get a telling off since she didn't exactly give proper respect when she spoke to him. It was a complete surprise when he merely smiled and replied, "Good. You are exactly as was described to us."_

_ "Excuse me?"_

_ "We've had our eye on you for a while now." The man flipped open a file and began reading, "Sari, last name redacted, twenty-nine, 5'4". Good vitals. Hometown: Jericho, Kansas; top of your class; superior in hand to hand combat; top shooter; recruited for SEAL training… 'shows ability to be a team player and on occasion rise to take command. Does have a tendency to reinterpret orders…'" He flipped the file shut and looked at Sari, "Not exactly complimentary and not exactly condemning either but you do have what we need."_

_ "I don't understand." Sari still thought that something got back to the brass and she was in trouble for a decision she had to make._

_ "Let tell it straight to you Lieutenant: you were chosen from a list of candidates to be a part of a special organization. You are to be a part of one of the largest organizations to ever exist and our sole mission is to protect the United States."_

_ Sari narrowed her eyes in confusion and suspicion. She had never heard of such a thing. "What do you mean?"_

_ "Have you ever heard of Janus?"_

Sari held the phone in her hand as she stared out the window. The minute she said the word 'no' she was treated to an advert of Janus. That sealed the deal and she was in. She had been issued equipment designed to withstand major disasters like EMP and the like. She still continued on the missions she and her team were sent on with an occasional separate order she was to follow. She had hoped that her service would be terminated when she handed in her forms to go on reserve. It appeared that she was not going to be let off the hook so easily.

"Hey, you hoping that thing is going to work just by looking out at the sky?"

Sari turned to see that Jake was awake. He was looking better than he was the night before. She smiled, "You know me, always an optimist."

It hurt that she was keeping something from Jake but it had been made clear from the beginning that her involvement was completely secret. She trusted Jake though but she didn't want him involved and she wasn't even sure what she was supposed to do except for that order she had been given. She was supposed to listen. Apparently Janus knew something about what happened and wasn't telling and they needed more information. She could do that but it felt… wrong.

Jake noticed that something was up with Sari. Sure he taught her how to perfect her poker face but she still let a few things through especially if they really bothered her. He figured that she might be worried about the little girl that he had given the trachy to. Sari always had a soft spot for kids and he wondered how she really fared doing that humanitarian stuff in the third world countries and the like. He chose to ignore it more for her sake and replied, "Tenacious is what I would say."

Sari was sure that Jake suspected something and she was grateful that he was being circumspect with it. "Now you're making fun of me JJ." She gave a mock pout for good measure.

Jake chuckled. "No I'm not and you know it."

Sari laughed with Jake. "Alright, you got me. Oh your mom brought these over. I'm guessing you're being let out of house arrest?" She pointed to the clothes that Gail had brought over that morning. Sari had just woken up and stretching her muscles after having sat in the chair all night and noticed Gail.

Jake noticed the clothes. "Did she tell you to do anything?"

Sari tried to look innocent. "No. Just to let you know those were available."

"You aren't that good at lying."

"I'm a genius since I learned from the master," Sari teased. She gave a slight sigh as she looked out the window. There was something about the day that seemed off. "I think something is up. I can't put my finger on it. Get dressed and we can figure it out."

Jake followed Sari's gaze out the window. She was right. Something was up outside. "Sure thing princess."

Sari looked at Jake, "Meet you outside JJ and maybe I'll have the coffee." She gave a slight grin and left Jake to change.

It didn't take long but just a little bit longer than usual since Jake had to be careful because of his leg. His head was doing better and he felt ready to jump into the fray and try to reduce the chaos that occurred from yesterday. He was sidetracked by April who did a spot check mostly on his head and let him go.

Jake knew where Sari had headed. She had been looking at the sky and there was one place that a person could get a good look and that was the roof. It was a steep climb and it was a bit hard on his leg but he toughed it out. He pulled himself up the steep ladder until he reached the highest point. It felt like he had been climbing a mountain again like that one time in Afghanistan.

As he expected Sari was standing on the roof and staring. Jake pulled himself up and moved to stand beside her. Together they looked at the sky. Jake could feel his eyes widening in surprise and shock. He glanced at Sari and he recognized that look. It was the same one she used to get when she was really scared and that was only when the bastard stepfather of hers rounded on her. He had vowed to do what he could to make sure that she never got that look ever again in the bastard's presence but he was helpless when it came to something like this. She was handling it pretty well though.

What they were looking at was the sky in the direction of Denver. Hovering over where that city once was they saw dark grey clouds and they could almost hear the distinct rumbling sounds of thunder. A storm was coming and it was heading straight towards Jericho and it wasn't one of those spring rains or anything nice. It could spell trouble.

"JJ, you should let the mayor know. I gotta check on Ryan," Sari said as she was still staring at the storm coming their way. She had a vague idea of what it could be. Funny how the things you only read about came to life.

Feeling slightly numb, she walked over to the ladder and slid down. She had practiced since you never know when you might be stuck on a battleship or something.

"Sari."

Sari looked up at Jake who was going to follow her. He was looking at her with a look of concern. He then said, "It'll be okay."

Sari grinned up at him, "I know. It's just different seeing something that you only read about. I'll check on Ryan and I'll be back to help with whatever we need to do. Okay partner?"

"Deal."

~0~0~

It was warm and dark. No light was coming in and it felt like hell. Bill cracked open his eyes and could only see the darkness. He had no clue if it was still night or if daylight had come. What he was sure of was that he had been tricked along with Jimmy and now the both of them were bound and gagged in the back of their own squad car by two felons whose prison bus crashed. They probably killed the sheriff and who else.

Bill wiggled his fingers and he felt fabric. It felt like the t-shirt that he wore under his uniform but it wasn't his. It was more likely Jimmy's. He gave a tentative poke with his fingers to see if Jimmy was okay. He was given a poke in return. At least Jimmy was okay.

Even though it was dark, Bill looked around to see if there was a way out. That is if he could maneuver around to reach the trunk release. It was hard since his hands were bound and the car was moving. That couldn't be good. If the felons were looking for a way out, once they were on the road, they could kill him and Jimmy and they would be defenseless. Bill hated that feeling and he wanted to fight his way out but he had his partner to worry about.

Bill sighed as he felt the heat come in. His head hurt still from the nice crack but he was more concerned about where they were and about Jimmy. It felt like when they were in high school all over again on prom night and what happened there.

_After his first failed attempt at asking Sari out and the make-up that occurred afterwards, Bill decided to try again and ask her to the prom. He found her on the bleachers with her rat pack and he was ready for the jokes and side stepping. Jake and Stanley always did that when someone tried to be nice to her or even tried to pick on her._

_ This time though they smiled and invited him up. As it turned out Jake was busy with Emily and Stanley was with another girl and that left Sari up for the taking. Bill had more confidence in that Jake gave a go ahead nod. He took the plunge and she said yes._

_ Prom night came but it didn't go how he wanted it to. When he picked her up, her mom was nice about it but he had a bad feeling about her stepdad. He was polite but Bill could tell that Sari was on tenterhooks as she came out. She couldn't get out of that house fast enough. _

_ The feeling left though as they got to the high school gym and started to enjoy themselves. Bill was glad to see her relax and enjoy herself. He thought her to be the prettiest girl there. He personally thought she would have made a better prom queen than what's her name. She certainly was better dressed._

_ They had a good time. Bill danced with Sari and of course her rat pack joined in and they passed partners around. He got a good view of when she danced with Jake. They fit very well together as they spun around and traded partners. It went well until Sari bumped into the prom queen and her date the prom king. Trouble would have certainly started._

_ Sari apologized for bumping into the prom queen but the bitch didn't want it. She got in Sari's face and asked who she thought she was touching her along with the loser. Bill watched as Sari narrowed her eyes and replied, "The only loser I see is a pathetic socialite wearing a cheap crown."_

_ "What did you say?"_

_ "You heard me."_

_ Then the prom king decided to step in. Bill told him to cool it. It was fortunate timing that Jimmy managed to direct attention to it. The potential fight broke up and things continued on as usual. Bill had to use the bathroom and Sari went with him._

_ The prom king jumped him with his friends and started beating him up. They shut him in the janitor's closet locking the door. Prom king said, "Enjoy yourself in there. I'm sure me and the little slut you came with will have a good time."_

_ That enraged Bill and he tried getting out but the door was locked. He didn't know how long he was in there but he felt relief to hear Sari calling for him. He called out to her and she tried to get the door open. As it turned out they were waiting for her. Bill pounded on the door as he heard the threats made by the prom queen._

_ The next thing Bill knew, he fell out of the closet after being let out. By whom he wasn't sure. What he was sure of was that he saw Jimmy looking a little beat up and Jake beating up the prom king and Sari was beating up the prom queen. She was saying, "You can say what you want bitch but no one says that about my friends." She emphasized it by giving a well-placed punch while saying, "Bitch."_

Bill grinned to himself in the trunk. Sari had actually given the girl a black eye. He remembered the gossip that happened the next day. No one believed that quiet little Sari punched the prom queen in the eye and gave her a black eye. The rather cool and funny thing was that in spite of being ambushed and threatened and fighting, her dress didn't get messed up and not a hair was out of place.

After the fight, they left before they could get thrown out. They went to hang out at the hill overlooking the Richmond place. Bill thought that it was the best time ever even though things didn't go as planned. He remembered Sari asking him if he was okay and if Travis' boys did anything to him. He recalled feeling flabbergasted that she would even care.

_"Hey, anyone who messes with a friend messes with me," Sari said as she handed a can of soda to Bill._

_ "You seriously consider me a friend?"_

_ Sari looked at him with a surprised look. She replied, "Yeah. I have since you first asked me out. I was just really bad at explaining why I couldn't go out then. Besides I think you're cool."_

_ "Really? What about your rat pack?"_

_ Sari laughed before she whispered, "More like bulldogs. See the rule is anyone who messes with a friend messes with me and whoever messes with me messes with Stanley and JJ. So a win-win."_

They had been friends until she left. Bill had a hard time understanding why and it hurt that she didn't see fit to say good-bye except by a note. Time mellowed out though. Even though he was a bit terse when Jimmy mentioned that she was back in town, deep down he was happy. He had accepted long ago that they would always be friends. He saw that Sari was not receptive and was outwardly friendly to everyone.

Bill thought it never occurred to her that there were people who really liked her. She was just a nice person. Even in school she tried to be nice to everyone, even the prom queen. Thinking about it, he just hoped that someone would catch on to what happened to him and Jimmy. He really wanted to see her again just to see her.

Jimmy had managed to open his eyes by then. He didn't like the fact that he was in the dark and in a small cramped space. If he were able to, he would move and probably in a panic. As it were, Bill was tied in with him and was sort of lying on top of him. He really couldn't move except for his fingers and he could touch Bill's shirt. To him Bill was being remarkably calm but then again they had no choice since their mouths were duct taped together. He flicked his fingers towards Bill.

Bill felt Jimmy's fingers brush his back. He turned his head towards Jimmy. He couldn't see him but it made him feel better about the whole thing. He returned the gesture to reassure Jimmy. He sighed through his gag. He could feel the heat rising in the trunk. It must be day time and judging from the bumping, they were on one of the highways, maybe one of the routes.

The wondering paused for a moment when Bill felt the car to slow down. They were stopping at the side of the road maybe. He could feel Jimmy tense up and he had good reason to. There was the possibility that they might be killed and dumped. However there was no way of knowing so Bill flicked Jimmy to signal him to be quiet.

Jimmy responded by going quiet and Bill strained his ears to hear better the conversation that had started. It was a bit hard to tell since they were stuck in the trunk but Bill thought he recognized one of the voices. He strained to hear better who was talking as the perps in the car talked to… Bill then recognized who it was. It was Emily Sullivan. This was not going to go well.

~0~0~

Robert Hawkins looked out at the sky as he made his way towards the main part of town to see if they needed some help. He could tell that a storm was coming. He made a slight nod since the storm would provide adequate cover for a job he needed to do later. Right now he could do what he could and get what he needed.

He knew that Mayor Green had procured the use of a ham radio. It was better than nothing and maybe he could get it to work and find out what was going on. He was expecting a message and he would rather be at the wheel for that when it came.

He made his way into town and surveyed the scene. It was different from the chaos that had occurred the day before. It hardly looked like it did when people were panicking. True there were still some vehicles about but it wasn't like before. The speech the mayor had given was a good one. While Hawkins was not one to trust anyone on the fly, he could tell that the mayor was a good man and he had the people his first thought. He had also observed the one called Gray Anderson.

Both were good men but they had different ways of handling situations. He could work with either one. It was just a matter of saying the right thing. Then there was the timing of the bus arriving with the lost kids. Hawkins had managed to catch a glimpse of the driver as he was helped out. He looked to be dependable too.

Then there was the girl named Sari. He ran into her when she was on her way home. He noticed that she too was on the bus but she hung back and in the shadows. She talked to him but he had noticed that she was careful with her responses. It made him wonder what she did for a living. There would be time to find out the longer he stayed in Jericho.

As it turned out, he ran into Sari as she was walking through town. IT was the second he had seen her walking in the same direction. He greeted her, "Hey, seems like things have calmed down enough."

Sari paused a moment to study Hawkins. She remembered seeing him the night before. In fact she had bumped into him. She replied, "A bit but it's just the calm before the storm."

Hawkins smiled a bit, "A peculiar phrase since it looks like a storm is coming."

Sari looked at Hawkins. He was new in town. That much she could ascertain. There was a distinct way he was talking though. She had heard it before and her memory knew where it came from. She would follow her last set of orders though and just play through like everything was normal. She was going to have to eventually tell Jake a few things but that would come later. Right now she was dealing with Robert Hawkins. She replied, "Well usually it is calm before a storm falls on Jericho."

"You seem to know quite a bit about that."

"Lived here all my life Mr. Hawkins."

"Surprised you remember," Hawkins replied with a slight smile.

Sari returned the smile with one of her own. "A gift and a curse; having a good memory. It's helped quite a bit. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to see to some family issues. If you need to speak to the mayor, he is in town hall."

Hawkins let Sari go. He was intrigued by her and made a note to drawn her in. He then turned towards city hall to find out what the people knew. It was going to be another busy day.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Jake knew what was going on and he knew for sure that Sari knew and as usual her first thought was about Ryan. From the moment her sister was born, Sari had always looked out for her sister. Paul didn't make it easy for her to do so but she was able to do it and Ryan loved her. Once Sari was sure Ryan was okay, she would be back to give a hand. Right now he had to get things started.

He made his way through the clinic looking for April. It was her clinic and she knew the place better than he did. He gritted his teeth from the soreness of his leg. It wasn't a deep cut but deep enough to hurt. He was going to have a limp for a while but right now he was filled with a sense of urgency as he walked around the center to find his brother's wife. He ran into his mother who was asking him where the hell he had been.

"Jake, what is going on?"

Jake was struck with the sense of urgency looking for April. Still he couldn't ignore his mother so he replied, "Get Dad on the radio."

He found April in an examination room putting a splint on Heather's leg. He barely noticed Heather since his immediate concern was getting the town ready for what was to come. He focused on April, "April, does the clinic have a fallout shelter?"

April realized something was up by the way Jake was asking the question. She replied as her face went into a slight frown, "Yes, what's going on?"

"It's bad. Come on," Jake motioned. He didn't mean to scare Heather but he wasn't one to waste time on explaining things since they needed to get the whole town ready.

"Can you explain what is going on?" April asked as she followed Jake.

"There's a storm coming from Denver," Jake replied. He stepped aside so April could show him the way to the fallout shelter. He limped a little but he was focused on the current problem. He continued, "If it was a nuclear explosion, the storm could bring the fallout on top of Jericho."

"How can you be sure?"

"I'm not but better safe than sorry. Sari agrees with me. She went home to take care of that and she'll be back to give a hand."

April nodded. It seemed that the chaos was only going to get worse from the day before. They were going to do the best they could. She quickened her pace as she showed him the way. "Seems like you two never left; you picked up right where you left off."

Jake shrugged his shoulders. "Sari's always been easy to talk to. There was never any bad blood between us."

"I know. I think it's good that you're both here."

Jake looked at April as he picked up the radio that would connect him to the one in the mayor's office. He tested it before speaking, "Dad."

_I'm here Jake._

Jake looked around to make sure that no one was eavesdropping. "We got a potential problem from the explosion."

~0~0~

"Jericho has two underground shelters. One right here under the town hall and the other under the medical clinic," Johnston Green reported. He had a not too lengthy discussion with Jake about what was coming. It was one of the things that he was grateful for in his sons. When it was important, they didn't beat around the bush but told it like it is. They had a problem and they needed to find a way to get it solved in order to make sure that the people of Jericho were safe.

Gray Anderson was there when he heard the news. He asked, "What about the people with basements and storm cellars?"

"That's better than nothing."

Everyone turned to look at the newcomer. Johnston recognized him as Robert Hawkins. The man had been helpful in helping Chief Carroll with last night's problems of lighting up the town. He was a stranger but he had jumped in with both feet to help the town through this crisis. He motioned for Hawkins to continue.

Hawkins realized that he was being given consideration. He continued, "Folks will have to seal off the rest of the house with duct tape, plastic sheeting… anything you can get your hands on."

Eric looked at Hawkins a little suspicious about his knowledge. Normally people wouldn't think about it but in times like these you couldn't be too careful. "How do you know so much about radiation Mr. Hawkins?"

Hawkins was expecting that. He looked at Eric in the eye and replied, "Because I was a cop in St. Louis and after 9/11 we got up to speed." He understood the need to be suspicious. They wouldn't be the leaders of Jericho if they didn't look at every angle. "So our biggest problem could be the rain."

"Won't the rain clear the radiation out of the air?"

It was a good question and it had merit. Hawkins was rather glad that questions were being asked rather than be taken at his word. He replied to Shep's inquiry, "Yes and bring it down straight on Jericho." Hawkins emphasized the seriousness by making a dropping motion with his hand. "A direct concentrated hit. Anyone exposed for too long…" Hawkins looked at everyone. He couldn't voice what would happen. He didn't need to since the people there had a good idea about what could happen.

Johnston knew the situation was serious. His attention was directed to one of the fireman bringing the plans for the shelters in Jericho. Now he had to get to the serious business of making sure the people of Jericho were safe. "Alright, we're gonna divide the town in two." He motioned on the map and said, "Everyone here can go to the town hall shelter. All those on the north side can go to the clinic."

"We'll get the word out Dad," Eric said and started getting people organized. It was going to be a hell of a job to get people where they needed to go.

Johnston nodded off his son and turned towards Hawkins and asked, "How long before the radiation gets here?"

Hawkins looked up from the map and replied apologetically, "Oh I'm new here. This is your town. How long does it normally take for a storm to get here from Denver?" He looked around at the locals hoping that someone could voice the answer. He recalled the hurried state that Sari was heading towards her home. He suspected that she knew the answer and was doing what she had to. It was another reason why he wanted to find out more about her.

Gray Anderson came up with the answer, "About two hours." He looked at Shep with a questioning look and got the confirming answer. That started people murmuring about the time they had for getting the town ready for the storm.

Johnston felt a weight come down. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. They had two hours to get both shelters ready. "Well let's not waste time," he said. He turned to get Jake back on the radio. "Jake."

_Yeah?_

"We've got two hours." Johnston didn't ask if Jake could get the other shelter ready. He didn't have to since his boys could pull meaning from as few words as possible.

_On it. We'll get it up._

Johnston sighed. He could count on Jake. Even with everything that had happened, he knew Jake was capable of stepping up to the plate when the occasion called for it. He remembered a few instances where he did the right thing. It was easy to forget those moments in light of the bad ones. Now… He spoke into the radio, "I know you will."

Johnston motioned for Eric to follow him. They had to check out the shelter in town hall and get it ready for people. He grabbed a flashlight and headed towards the basement area. From the looks of everything as they got to the entrance to the shelter, it looked like no one had been down there in years. That wasn't surprising since they didn't really expect to use it. Now they had to and it made Johnston regret that they didn't get up to speed about this kind of thing. At least they had Hawkins around to give a few pointers.

Eric followed close behind Johnston. He remembered when he and Jake were kids and they actually used to play down there. He remembered one time though that it wasn't all fun and games. It was after Jake introduced the family to Sari.

_It was supposed to be a game; a great adventure. Eric said that there was a bunch of stuff down there that was really old and there were plenty of places to hide. It had been his idea to make the old hide and seek game an interesting one. He suggested combining it with a scavenger hunt and included Sari in the game._

_ Sari was the one that came up with the riddles that would lead Jake to where everyone was hiding. She wrote them out and showed them to Eric for approval. She was shy about it like she was afraid of getting criticized for them. Eric though was impressed. "Wow, these are really good." He read each riddle and noted the cleverly constructed clues._

_ Sari shrugged her shoulders, "I write a lot. Besides reading, it's another thing you can do when you're by yourself." She then handed Eric the one that was going to start Jake off from the house and then eventually end up at town hall._

_ Eric looked at Sari. She was extremely shy even when Jake brought her over for the first time. Yet she would speak willingly around his older brother. He figured that she was just nervous but something about the way she talked about being alone… that was different._

_ They set up the riddles and left the starting point for Jake and went off to their hiding spots. Eric showed her the fallout shelter in town hall. She volunteered to hide there and held the clue to find Eric. What happened, Eric blamed himself for._

_ Where Sari had been hiding, the door was not working properly. Eric had forgotten to tell Sari how to work it so it didn't bolt shut. He didn't think about it and he ended up getting found first. Of course they had a backup plan and he had the clue to find her. When they found her, she was passed out. It had been a hot day during the summer and no cool air._

_ Eric was scared as well as Jake as they pulled her out. Sari was okay once they got some fluids into her at the clinic. She called him and Jake her heroes and she opened up to him just as she did with Jake but since then Eric always felt guilty about that. Jake never said anything further about it but managed to get the door fixed._

Eric recalled that perfectly as they entered the shelter. He wondered how Sari would feel about being down there. As far as he could remember, she never developed a case of claustrophobia but one could never tell. Out of the blue he said, "Jake and I used to play down here when we were kids. Sari too."

Johnston remembered that one time. It was an accident and no harm, no foul but it continued to bother Eric afterwards. He never brought it up so they didn't really talk about it but he figured Sari and Eric worked it out since Eric stopped mentioning it after a time. He replied, "I don't think anyone's been down here in ten years."

Nothing more was said as they along with the others looked for the switch and turned on the lights. The shelter looked as Johnston said; it was dusty and pretty much like no one had been down there in ten years or more. It didn't look very promising but it was all they had to work with. Gray asked, "How many people can we fit in here?"

"Three hundred."

Gray looked at Johnston like he was crazy. "You do realize that there are about five thousand people in this town?"

Johnston knew that it was going to be a tight squeeze but there was a solution. He turned towards Eric and said, "Eric, make sure all the people who have basements use them. We are not running out of room here today. You understand?"

"Got it," Eric replied. He called on the radio to spread the word.

~0~0~

Sari ran up and down the stairs of the Green house and made sure that everything was secure before running over to her house. She still had trouble accepting the fact that the house was hers. Now her first thing regarding the place was to secure it against fallout.

She had gotten to the Green house and found that Ryan had been munching on a piece of fruit. It was a relief to see her sister okay. She said, "Sorry I didn't come home Ry."

"It's okay sis. Mrs. Green came back to check on me and said that you were making sure Jake was okay," Ryan replied. She threw away the apple core away. She took in a moment the stance that her sister was taking.

Ryan knew her half-sister most of her life before her dad sent her away. She knew that Sari was a silent communicator which she had learned living under their roof. She could tell that her sister had something serious to say. "Something bad?"

Sari nodded and replied, "Yes but if we get prepared, everything will be okay."

"That explosion? That was a nuclear blast wasn't it?"

Sari nodded but smiled reassuringly. Ryan didn't need to be terrorized by unnecessary explanations. "We just have to seal the windows of the house and get to town hall okay?"

Ryan said no more but was ready to go and helped with the Green house. She then followed her sister out the door. It was hard not to run in a panic but she followed the brisk pace that Sari set and able not to panic. It was scary in that the storm coming could be poisonous. Ryan didn't know too much about this kind of thing but she read in her spare time and learned about the atomic bomb in history class and of course Oppenhiemer and the Manhattan project.

The Harrison house was a two story house with no basement which was why Ryan was going to town hall. How they managed to find enough plastic sheeting to cover the windows was a mystery to Ryan but they pulled it out from everywhere. She suspected that Sari stripped some of the plastic coverings from the machinery in the garage and used them.

Ryan was finishing one of the smaller rooms when she started on the living room. The main window was huge and it was a struggle trying to get it on the window. She was helped by Sari who had finished the kitchen. She smiled at her older sister. "You always were taller than me," she teased.

Sari smiled as she tacked up the top of the plastic. "Don't worry habibiti. You'll hit another growth spurt soon. JJ did say that you grow when he's not looking."

"How is JJ?"

Sari thought about what to say. She didn't want to get into all the gory details. "He's fine. He was a little banged up when I found him but everything is good."

"Did you two kiss?"

"What?" Sari looked incredulously at her little sister. Where did the girl get her ideas? "What are you talking about?"

"Gotcha sis," Ryan replied laughing as she tacked the sides of the plastic on.

Sari narrowed her eyes playfully at Ryan. "You keep this up and I might just put you over my knee and teach you a lesson."

"I'd love to see ya try."

"Don't tempt me Rye bread," Sari replied as she finished tacking up her side. "You forget that JJ and I ran together for years. We became masters at all sorts of tricks." She glanced at Ryan and grinned a little devilishly. "Trust me. You wouldn't survive one of our pranks."

"JJ wouldn't pull a prank on me."

"You'd be surprised habibiti."

Ryan paused a moment as she gathered up her supplies to put them away. She had been curious about what her sister and her best friend did while they were away. True they talked but it always seemed that Sari was guarded, like she couldn't say the things she wanted to say. "Where were you while you were away?"

Sari paused as she picked up the excess plastic. She could put it away later. Right now they needed to put the stuff away. She knew that question would pop up. Hell when she came into town it was the first thing out of people's mouths. She sighed, "I've been working… with the Navy."

"Were you in Iraq?"

"Afghanistan and Iraq… mostly patrols. No serious fighting." Sari uttered the lie effortlessly. She could never really tell anyone the things she saw and the things that the independent contractors did. She remembered the aftermath at Saffa and the surprise she got there.

Ryan knew that there was more to the story. She could tell by the way her sister seemed to get a wistful look or something like that. It told her that there were things that her sister would never mention and maybe she didn't want to know. She did know that whatever her sister did, she did it for her country. If there was one thing about her sister it was that Sari was loved her country and she was loyal to it and would do anything to protect it. So she replied, "Oh. Did you help any of those kids?"

"We did some relief work. Part of our protection was to help out the locals," Sari replied as she went up the stairs to check and make sure everything was secure. "You make sure your room is secure?"

"Yes," Ryan replied as she went to the coat closet to pull out her jacket. It was autumn and it was pretty cold and storms made it worse. "So where are we going?"

Sari came back down the stairs pulling on her jacket. She checked her pockets to make sure her phone was among her portable stuff. Out of habit, she stopped by the closet she had put her duffle in and pulled out a gun and checked to make sure it was loaded. She knew that Ryan wouldn't flinch at that. Most of the people in town had a gun and they knew how to shoot. She tucked it in her waistband and replied, "You're going to town hall. You'll be safe at the shelter there."

Sari greeted Ryan at the door and ushered her out. She made sure the door was secure and pushed Ryan into walking fast.

"And what about you?"

"I have to help get the med center's shelter up and running," Sari explained walking at a fast pace.

"Why can't I come? I can help." Ryan was used to being on her own. She could have handled being at the town hall shelter on her own. She just wanted to be with her sister and to be honest she was scared about something happening to her. Sari was the only relative she had left since she wasn't sure about her dad's mom in New Bern and as much as she liked the old lady, she just wasn't Sari.

Sari heard the wistful tone in her sister's voice. This was the hard part of parenting and she was sure of it. She would like to spend time with Ryan but she needed to make sure that there was a place for the people of Jericho to go and she could do that a lot better if she knew that Ryan was safe. She replied in what she hoped was a reassuring voice, "I need you to stay at town hall." She paused when she heard Ryan pout a little and stopped to look at her younger sister and explain, "Look. I know you want to help and I know you can but right now I need to help the medical center so we can help the people of Jericho."

"Why you?"

That was a good question and one that Sari carefully answered, "Because someone has to. It's not the best thing in the world but if no one did it then we would be in trouble. Now I need you to stay in town hall with Mayor and Mrs. Green while I help."

"But…"

"I know it sucks but it's one of those things that adults have to do." She stopped and made a slight face. "I sound like Mom don't I?"

"A little but I guess I understand. I just don't want something bad to happen to you. You're all I got Sari," Ryan replied with a slight smile.

Sari returned the smile and rubbed Ryan's hair in that affectionate manner she did. "I know Rye bread. I get the feeling that tough times are coming and some people are going to have to grow up faster than they should. That doesn't mean I won't be careful."

Ryan smiled feeling a little better. "So you're just going to go help JJ?"

"Yes."

Ryan started walking and was joined by Sari. "Then I guess I can handle that. Maybe I can help Mayor Green at town hall. He knows I won't be in the way."

Sari smiled. No doubt Johnston Green would ever consider Ryan to be in the way. Maybe her sister might be able to convince the man to take it easy while dealing with a crisis. She had noticed that he was a little off. She may not have seen the man in five years but she could recognize the signs of a cold when she saw one. "I know that habibiti."

They continued onto town hall and Ryan disappeared into the building leaving Sari to walk to the medical center. On the way there, she checked her phone for a chance that something might be different than the missive she had been given. There was nothing and she sighed in disappointment. She had known that by getting the full sales pitch into Janus, she was in and there was no way of getting out and at that thought, she gave a dry chuckle.

Being in Janus was like being in a gang. Once you were in, it was for life. That's probably what would have happened if she had stayed. She would have ended up working for Jonah and in an effort to keep people off of Jake's back. The town was in a real mess the day that he left and since then, even though she said what was done was done, she would go over in her mind thinking about what she could have done differently.

Then there was Saffa and the other villages like Fallujah. It was like a bad unending dream then. Jake had no idea the lengths she went to in order to make sure that he wasn't made a fall guy. It was a big risk to her career and position within Janus since she was brand new to that. That was her job though to watch his back and it was something she took seriously for the first person, the first man to teach her that she didn't have to let people push her around. Stanley helped in that too and the three of them along with Eric got into so many scrapes…

Sari was glad to be back in Jericho even though it was going to be tough with the past still there. It put an extra bounce in her step as she walked towards the med center. She was unaware that she was being watched by Robert Hawkins who was helping out at town hall.

* * *

**A/N:** Time to prep the shelters before the fallout and it looks like Hawkins suspects something about Sari. More to come on Forces Collide...


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Hey, need an extra pair of hands?"

Jake glanced up from his work to see Sari peering around the generator, her face already smudged with dirt. He grinned, "Glad to see you made it."

"Hey not my fault your parents' house is freakishly huge," Sari replied as she checked the wiring and began selecting wires from the pile to replace them. She was not an expert on all machines but she did have to learn how to self-maintenance her motorcycle.

"It's not huge," Jake replied with a smirk as he continued working on what he was fixing. He watched as Sari wire stripped a few pieces. He gave a slight frown, "You learned how to hotwire a few things?"

"Once or twice where I was at," Sari replied as she kept her eyes on her work. That bit of information was related to what she did on the side for the Seals. She discovered that if Jake asked a question she was really going to have to be circumspect about her activities. Janus made it clear that the reason for their success was the secrecy.

"I guess so if you lived up to the whole helping out people with shoddy equipment thing," Jake replied mostly to tease her.

"Something like that. Out in the field you have to be creative. Nothing surprising about that considering what we used to get into," Sari replied as she worked with the wires. She smirked as she added, "Right, JJ?"

Jake couldn't even begin to recount all the times that they had to be creative in their scrapes. Elaborate plans they made but only had so much to work with… it would have been anyone else's nightmare. Not for them though. "I remember."

Sari glanced at Jake who was looking at her with a half of a smile. Even though they were in the serious business of getting the shelter ready, it was nice to talk about each other and even throw in a few memories. It made the half-truths she would have to tell a little bit easier to digest but that didn't mean that she liked it. She had always had told Jake the truth growing up even when he could see and infer what happened and he did the same with her but mostly because even if he told her it was a guy's only thing, she found a way to be there. It was because of that Jake had to spell out a few things such as a boy's swimming day. The long and the short of it was that they really didn't keep that many secrets from each other.

The past five years though said otherwise. She wasn't going to push about Saffa and other places that he might have been. She only knew about Saffa because of the aftermath and she remembered one person in particular that she disliked. They had butted heads and in the end… the results had her boiling. At least she was able to intervene on Jake's behalf. That was one thing she would never tell unless he asked.

"What did that wire do to you?"

Sari looked up to realize that she had been a little hard on the wire. At least she hadn't done anything to ruin the generator. She looked at Jake who was looking at her and replied, "Just a couple of stray thoughts. Memories and the sense of urgency." She stopped herself and turned her full attention to the wire she was working with.

Jake suspected that it was something more than that since he knew she wasn't that good at a poker face with him. He decided to leave it alone. Five years had gone by and while it was good that they could pick up where they left off, there was that thing called time. It certainly didn't make him forget nor willing to admit to Saffa or the events after that. He went to work on what he was working on with the generator.

Sari had finished what she was doing and moved to shifting the equipment out. It was a relief to collect her thoughts and then focus on getting the shelter ready. They didn't have a whole lot of time and she didn't want the trachy case and other patients to suffer the wrath of fallout. She motioned to a guy that was trying to move something, "Hey easy with that."

The guy shot her a look as if she knew anything about equipment. Sari shot one back and added, "I mean it. We might need that later. Just cause it's old doesn't mean that it's not useful."

The guy sort of glared as he started moving the equipment, this time more gently and with greater care. He gave a wary glance at Sari as he moved things and she gave a nod of approval. Sari turned to check on the one of the other pieces of equipment. True most of it probably hadn't been used since the sixties or something like that but push comes to shove, they may have to use it.

"Nice work."

Sari turned to see Heather coming in on her crutches. She smiled and replied, "Just doing what I can. We may need the equipment later. So how's the leg?"

"Sore but I'll live," Heather replied. "You know, I never got a chance to thank you. You just seemed to disappear after the bus."

Sari checked an O2 tank she found and raised her brow. Everything on the gauges looked good even though the last service date was questionable. She wouldn't risk it though. There were about a thousand people in Jericho and they all had to fit in their basements or town hall or here. It was a big task. She replied, "I don't usually stick around for the thanks. I just move on to the next job. It's what I did overseas."

Heather studied Sari as she leaned on her crutches. She watched Sari assess a piece of junk machinery but the wiring looked good. "You're good at field stripping."

"Another trick I learned. When you work in places where you have to count every penny, you get creative. I'm thinking we can use these for something else if something breaks."

"Well the copper wiring will be the most useful," Heather commented.

Sari looked at her and gave a smile, "My thoughts exactly. You're not so bad yourself. You should pitch a hand in with the generator and check on my handiwork."

Heather nodded. She ambled over to find Jake working on the generator and paused to look back at Sari who went back to field stripping parts and putting them in a box. It was something that she would have to look into later. She said to Jake, "Hey. Can I lend a hand?"

Jake looked up to see Heather, a bit surprised to see her. They needed all the hands they could get to make the shelter habitable within ninety minutes. "So you know how to field strip wires?"

Heather gave a wry smile, "Ever since junior high." When Jake shot her a look, she added, "Yeah I was that popular."

That didn't matter to Jake considering the stuff he had been involved with. As long as a person knew what they were doing. "Great. Check the fan belt. I think it's frayed." He motioned towards the top of the generator. He caught sight of Sari helping the clinic staff moving things. She caught his eye and gave one of those grins that he was never sure of what she was thinking.

Heather moved forward on her crutch and jumped right into it. "You might to get another one." She inspected the fan belt. It was like old times as she gave a visual inspection. "Any mid-century American car would be a good match. And check the brushers. We don't want the motor to seize up."

Jake raised his brows in surprise at the info he was getting from Heather. She really knew her stuff. He held his hand up in mock surrender and said, "Okay. You take over." He got up from his position and handed the pliers to Heather. "I'll look for a fan belt."

Heather grinned as she took the pliers. "You might want to ask Sari for help. She seems to know what to look for," she said in a low voice.

Jake repressed the urge to chuckle. It was his intention to ask Sari for her help in the first place. He started walking out of the shelter nearly bumping into Sari as she was starting up the stairs. "Sorry."

"No worries," Sari replied and motioned for Jake to hop up.

"Care to give me a hand?"

"No problem."

~0~0~

Emily knew something was wrong with the two deputies that picked her up. Her gut feeling was telling her that they were not part of the sheriff's department of Jericho. Their behavior was not typical either. Even though they looked the part, they gave a certain aura that just didn't sit right and she wasn't sure why she got in the car.

She had run out of gas on her way to meet Roger and she had seen a bunch of dead birds on the road it had freaked her out. She wanted to get back to town but she needed gas so she took her can and started walking. She started in the general direction back and she could feel the heat of the sun.

The car with the deputies came a little bit later and Emily asked for a ride. She had given them the tip that the Richmond farm might have gas. They agreed and she got in. Now she was feeling regret for that. It didn't help when she overheard on the radio about the crashed prison bus and that Bill and Jimmy were missing. Things were definitely not right.

She knew that she had to be careful about what she did and said since she didn't want to put herself at risk nor anyone else that was there. She tried to get them to head to another place but it didn't help that Bonnie came up with a load of firewood. Bonnie looked at her and asked, "Ms. Sullivan?"

Emily gave a slight smile at Bonnie. She had hoped that no one was home and now Bonnie was here. She was ushered in with Bonnie into the main house. Things were going to be difficult and she was scared.

"So we'll uh just use your pump and be on our way," the first fake deputy asked.

Bonnie had been putting the firewood away. She got the feeling that something wasn't right the moment that Emily came up with the deputies. She wasn't sure of what was going on but she would do her best. "Stanley has the key."

The first deputy looked confused and looked at Emily, "What did she just say?"

Emily had been watching and trying to look calm and collected. She replied, "Oh her brother Stanley. He's got the key to the pump."

"Wait a minute," the second fake deputy entered, "She's deaf?"

Bonnie gave a tolerant look and replied, "Yes." She was almost amused at the look on their faces but also annoyed. "I read lips."

Emily walked towards Bonnie. "When do you think Stanley gets back?"

"Another hour…"

"Whoa… what did she just say?"

Emily turned towards the other fake deputy. "It's gonna be about another hour."

"Oh. We can wait an hour," the second fake deputy replied as he went to join his partner. He started talking in whispers to his partner.

Emily glanced at them before she was distracted by Bonnie asking. "Ms. Sullivan, are you all right?"

It was loud enough for the two fake deputies to turn and look at them. Emily knew that she had to be circumspect about everything. She couldn't put Bonnie in danger with two possibly armed felons in the same room. She also had to find a way to get help. That was a plan in the works but right now she had to make sure everything looked all right. She smiled and replied, "I'm fine. I'm just hungry." She glanced over and an idea came along. "We don't we make some food for the officers?"

"Oh. I want eggs," one of the fake deputies said. "It's a farmhouse. You've got eggs right?" He went with Bonnie towards the kitchen.

The second one approached Emily and asked, "Why don't we all go to the kitchen and make something to eat?"

Emily didn't like the smile the fake officer was giving her. Still she couldn't let on her suspicions; not until she had a plan to get her and Bonnie out of this. She smiled in return and replied, "Alright." AS she turned to head into the kitchen, she noticed the pair of six shooters in the glass case in the main living room. It was a weapon to use but she just had to figure out how to get it.

Bonnie was waiting in the kitchen and looking at Emily expectantly. Emily gave a slight smile and went to work getting things out to cook something for the fake officers. It would give her time to figure out how to get one of the guns.

~0~0~

Ryan knew that when a crisis was in the middle of being taken care of, the best thing to do was to stay out of the way. This time though, she was determined to help. She put herself in the middle and demanded a place to help. At first she wasn't taken seriously since she was only twelve but she was determined. She picked up a box and stood defiantly to be given a job.

It was a relief when Gail came into town hall and upon ascertaining the situation, she took charge and had Ryan help her make sure that there was plenty of food and water for the shelter in town hall. As she was carrying a box, "Thanks for letting me help Mrs. Green."

Gail looked at Ryan and gave a smile. Before leaving for town hall, she had been stopped by Jake and told to go there. She didn't want to go, not with the eminent threat of nuclear fallout coming upon them; she had just got her eldest back. She wasn't going to lose him again. However, she understood where Jake was coming from. He was doing what he could to help the medical clinic's shelter get operational but he didn't want to worry about her safety. So she made Jake promise that he would come back and told him to bring Sari.

Looking at Ryan, she could see a younger version of Sari, the ever helpful little girl, as she carried a box. She replied, "I think you would have done it regardless what anyone said honey."

"Well if Sari can help, I can too. I may not know much but I can help." Ryan gave a determined set as she carried the box down into the shelter. She stopped to avoid running into Mayor Green as he was listening to the reports on the radio.

"Yeah that's right. All those north of Main Street go to the medical center," Johnston said as he walked through the shelter.

Gail watched her husband work his way through trying to get the shelter operational. She understood the urgency since they had less than an hour and a half to get it ready. However there were a few things. "Johnston."

Johnston wasn't in the habit of ignoring his wife but he had a job to do with the shelter. He was more focused on what was being relayed to him through the radio. He did acknowledge his wife and replied, "I know you want me to take it easy. I'm just gonna go help Eric get the supplies…"

"I've already sent people to do that. Ryan is with them helping bring the supplies in," Gail countered trying to get Johnston to take it easy. He hadn't been feeling well and if he pushed himself too hard, he would collapse.

Johnston was agitated at that and he turned back, "Gail, who is in charge here? You or me?"

Ryan had paused to take a breather since the box she had been carrying was a heavy one. The supplies for the shelter were almost done. When she saw Johnston come back using what she had privately dubbed his Mayor voice, she knew that he was going to get it. She knew that Gail didn't put up with lip whether it was from her boys or Johnston and she certainly gave a talking to if she decided to give attitude. She muttered to herself, "Oh he's in trouble."

Gail raised her brow as her husband advanced towards her. She replied, "You do not want to play that game." She set her face to let Johnston know that she was being serious. She was well aware that to her sons and Sari, it was entertainment when she put Johnston into his place. Still she wasn't going to play that game. The less that Johnston had on his mind, the better and people were doing their part. She made a slight motion to Ryan that she was to scat. She could only imagine what the girl would tell her sister later.

Johnston looked at Gail like he wanted to start an argument right there in the shelter. He was willing to play that game at the moment. However, that was interrupted when someone came in bringing in all the books that had something on nuclear radiation. He looked at the first book and said, "Our Friend the Atom?"

The selection of books didn't look promising. Johnston was aware that nuclear fallout and radiation had been the last thing on people's minds since the atomic age of the fifties. It was easy to get into that mentality that there was nothing to worry about in terms of nuclear war. People thought that they were safe. He glanced up to acknowledge Gray Anderson before continuing, "Anything in here for grownups? I'd like to know what to do if this town gets hit."

"None of the books are specific," the one who found the books replied while shaking his head apologetically. "Atom bombs have only gone off in populated cities only twice in history. And Denver was probably hit by a hydrogen bomb anyway."

"What's the difference?" Gray asked the question.

"Hydrogen bombs, they literally explode the air," Hawkins entered in. He had been helping prepare the shelter in town hall. It was the best place to get info about what was happening in the town and if anything else was going on out there.

Gail glanced from where Hawkins was working and back at the group, "So what you're saying is that nobody knows what's really coming?" She looked at her husband.

Johnston knew that this put them in a bind. They were literally walking into an unknown. "Then we pick the worst case scenario." He looked at the one who brought the books in. "What needs to be done?"

Hawkins had finished what he had been doing and began walking around to look where he might be useful. He interrupted and said, "Anything left outside will have to be scrubbed down. If it rains, the top eighteen inches or so of soil will have to be removed before planting again. And tell everybody to cover all the water wells." He was aware that he was under scrutiny with this. He motioned towards the book, "That's about what it says right?" He kept his hands in front of him to show that he wasn't trying to take over or anything.

Verification from the book was revealed. "Yes. Yes that's right."

Johnston was surprised about the information source. At the moment Hawkins' information was proving valuable to the town. "Well, you heard the man. Jeff let's make sure all the ranches get the livestock inside."

Hawkins knew that he had to make himself scarce but available. He said, "I'm going to go work on the radio. This may be our last chance to make contact for a while." He went to go pick up the bag of tools that he was going to use to repair the radio.

"There's a bunch of people in the church that held a vigil all night. I'm gonna make sure that they get to the shelter," Johnston said after casting a look at his wife.

Gail stressed, "Hurry back."

"Yes ma'am," Johnston replied knowing that it would annoy his wife. He stepped out of the shelter and up the stairs to the main room of the hall. He ducked behind a door to lean on the wall. He took a couple of breaths and started back out to go towards the church.

Gail sighed inwardly. She knew the Green men were known for their stubbornness. He needed to be doing something. She prayed that he would hurry back before the storm.

~0~0~

Sari finished removing the fan belt from the classic car that had once belonged to Paul. She had no regrets about it and she knew it was a good one since aside from business, Paul took good care of the car that he worked on. She had learned about cars while watching him from her hiding spots in the garage in town where he had storage space for it so it was no trouble to remove the belt.

Making sure that the garage was shut, Sari turned to jog back towards the clinic. The jaunt from the clinic to the garage was nothing and she barely broke a sweat. She had told Jake that she knew where to get a fan belt and to just make sure that the people were ready to go down into the shelter.

"You're thinking about the car?"

Sari knew that Jake knew about the car and gave a slight nod. "If there is one thing that was taken care of…" She gave a slight shrug. "I'll be back. Just make sure the people are ready to go JJ." She started jogging towards the garage.

"Got your back, princess," Jake replied giving a slight smile.

Now that she had the belt, they could see if that ventilation generator will prove its worth. She slowed her pace once she made her way into the clinic. There were a lot of people there and there was no need to cause injuries because of hurry.

She caught Jake coming out of a room where a new mother and a baby in an incubator were in. "Hey," she said as she waved the fan belt. "Got it."

"Good," Jake replied nodding.

They started back towards the shelter when they were stopped by Emily's aunt. She said that she had been trying to find Emily. Jake had been a bit abrupt even though he said that if he saw her, he would tell her that she was looking for her. Sari had handed the fan belt off to Jake and paused, "I'll keep an eye out for Emily. If I find her, I'll let her know. If she can't make it, I'll watch out for her."

It was probably something she shouldn't have made. She and Emily weren't BFFs even though they had hung out multiple times. Hell Emily never really forgave her or Jake regarding that incident with Chris. Yet Sari wasn't one to hold a grudge. She would keep an eye out and she gave a reassuring nod as she went back down the hall towards the shelter.

* * *

**A/N:** A scramble to get the shelters ready and more personal thoughts. Stay tuned for more on Forces Collide...


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

They were screwed. The smoke coming from the fan was a big telltale sign. Sari closed her eyes as Heather looked at Jake and took a breath. She wanted to let lose her frustration but she couldn't. They had problem and they needed to find a means to fix this. She put a hand up to her forehead trying to think of what they were going to do.

"Jake, everyone's ready. What do we do now?"

Sari glanced at Heather and then at Jake. They couldn't let those people in there. Without air, they would suffocate. The only other place was to get them to town hall. Jake knew that too and he was quick to react, "Don't let them in here."

April was feeling anxious at the whole thing. She had people, some who were more serious in matters of their medical care waiting to get into a shelter. "The rain is going to be here soon. People are getting scared."

Jake groaned in frustration but also because his leg was sore. He had been hobbling all day trying to get things ready for this storm. He bent over to rest it a little but he was still present with the problem of the people and the need for space.

"Do we have air or not?"

Jake took a couple of breaths. "If you seal them up in here, they're gonna die." He glanced up at April and then at the people that were about to come in. He saw the woman whom he had convinced to move the baby into the shelter. He also saw the scared look of the little girl.

April looked around. "What do we do?"

Jake knew the only other place was to take them to town hall. "We take them to town hall."

It was a bustle as everyone started loading up ambulances and other vehicles to get the patients to town hall. Jake was trying to get his father on the radio as he was helping to load. "Hello Dad? Dad can you hear me?"

_Dad's checking on the church, Jake. What do you need?_

"Our shelter's no good. I'm bringing these people to town hall," Jake replied.

_Whoa hold on. Jake I don't know how many more people we can hold. What about their basement?_

Jake felt his frustration rise with his urgency. He caught sight of Sari continually looking up at the sky as she helped people into the bus they were going to use. She would narrow her eyes and then just continue. He replied to Eric, "They don't have basements Eric. That's why they came here."

It was a surprise when April grabbed the radio and said, "Eric, we've got two hundred people here. Some of them need medical attention. Handle it." She paused to hear Eric's reply and shook her head. "I've got no time. We're coming." She looked at Jake and then Sari who happened to be getting into the driver's seat of the bus and said, "Sorry. Sometimes my husband needs a kick."

"You don't have to apologize to me," Jake replied as he climbed in. He was surprised to find Sari in the driver's seat.

Sari raised her brow and said, "Sit." She then lowered her voice and added, "Before you collapse." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the vial of aspirin and tossed it to Jake. She made a motion with her head as she closed the door.

"Do you have to make the whole town suffer?"

It was a joke since Sari was as good a driver as Jake when it came to cars. She had sped when she had went to warn him and Chris to back out of that job Jonah wanted them to do. Jake had done what he could to keep her out of his hanging out with Jonah and yet she kept showing up. Also it didn't help that Jonah was after her for her intelligence.

Sari kept her eyes on the road as she drove the bus away from the clinic and made for town hall. "I've had practice."

Jake couldn't help but chuckle. "Driven buses where you were?"

"Something like that. One was to pick up DBs. That was a bad one." Sari didn't look at Jake as she said it. She was referring to Saffa when her unit had been sent in as SAR but they were also to investigate the circumstances.

_She could smell the burnt flesh and smoke from fire before seeing it as Harriman pulled her truck up. Kittredge had the second one. She could see the destroyed buildings and the umedics from the Red Cross and military. She even spotted a few of them and their trucks. She should have known they would have been involved._

_ Actually she did know. She had the report and she had been briefed by her handler officer. The place was called Saffa and they were called Ravenwood. They were well known for being itchy on the trigger and they answered to no one except their private contractor. Sari had only heard reports of other incidents of this private military._

_ "Looks like they were here," Harriman said as he pulled the vehicle to a stop. "I don't look forward to seeing what they did."_

_ "Me neither, Harriman but we have a job to do in helping with the bodies," Sari replied. "And we have to investigate."_

_ "Is command crazy? You know these guys think that they're better than us."_

_ "Yeah but they've never done what we have right, Harriman?" Sari looked at her driver before looking out. The leader of Ravenwood had seen her and she saw that smirk. The arrogance goaded her and she knew to expect a snow job. He was going to feed her BS about how they fired first or were a threat. She knew something that he didn't._

_ Adjusting her helmet and vest, she got out of the vehicle and started walking with her weapon in her hands. They were still in a potential hot zone so they had to be careful. She greeted the commander, "Lt. Sari, United States Navy."_

_ "Little far from the ocean, are we? Lieutenant?"_

_ Sari knew that she was being mocked because she was an officer and she was a legitimate soldier in the military. The other part was that she was a woman. She had plenty of that crap and she wasn't too fazed by that. "Special assignment. We're here because of what happened. Collecting the reports that kind of thing," she replied in a slight condescending tone. "I have authorization and you and your men are to provide any information we ask for."_

_ He had looked at her to see if she was bluffing. Sari stared at him full on to indicate that she wasn't going to back down from that challenge. He must have seen that she wasn't bluffing and gave a slight smile, "That's fine with me. Do all the investigating you want. What is in the report is what went down."_

_ Sari didn't break contact as she motioned with her hand for her men to deploy. She narrowed her eyes and said, "Let's get one thing straight. You may be considered valuable in terms of man power and under private contractor but as the senior investigating officer in this, you will be under close scrutiny. SO expect my jurisdiction to be pretty much in your face."_

_ "A lot of fire in you. What I would expect from a SEAL. Tell me why would they send a SEAL unit to investigate a good shoot?"_

_ "Who says it was?" Sari made a mocking face as she replied, "All I have is your word and frankly you paramilitary boys tend to not go well in my book."_

_ "You have a bias to affect your judgment?"_

_ "I am well aware of other incidents. So I really don't trust your word but we will carry out our investigation. Special Agent Perez will also be asking questions," she replied motioning to the agent from CID standing next to her in full military gear. "I suggest you be truthful."_

_ The rest of the formalities were finished quickly and that was when Sari went through the village taking in the sights. She asked questions in Arabic and didn't blame them if they partially shouted at her but they didn't threaten her. It was when she rounded a corner and saw a little girl lying dead. She couldn't be more than twelve or so and there was so much blood._

_ Sari would have walked forward but then she saw him. She was shocked since she hadn't seen him since the day he left home. She knew it was him because she recognized that face and he was wearing Ravenwood equipment. The game had changed drastically…_

"Not bad with the driving."

Sari spared a glance at Jake who was watching her. She gave a slight smile and sighed as she maneuvered the bus towards town hall. "Army trucks aren't hard once you learn how."

"More of your Peace Corp thing?"

Sari gave a slight nod. She glanced in the mirror to check on the patients. "Yeah. They were pretty handy in transporting people and goods for those people." She paused a moment and then said to bring humor, "At least you're better on the stick of a plane."

~0~0~

"I'm watching it. You just better get everybody underground," Hawkins said as he poured out the materials he brought to work on the radio. It was urgent that he got the thing working.

Gray Anderson had been gathering the last of the supplies they would need and had warned Hawkins about the wind picking up. He paused a moment to look at what Hawkins was doing and said, "You know if you get that thing to work do me a favor and find out who did this to us."

Hawkins gave a slight nod to indicate that he would. He watched as Gray headed towards the shelter. He then focused his attention towards the radio. He turned it on and began fiddling with the wires.

"Isn't that dangerous? You know working with an electric object and fiddling with the wires?"

Hawkins looked up to see Ryan looking at him. In all the confusion of getting the shelter ready, no one had seemed to notice that she was around. Hawkins had notice though and saw how she made herself useful. She would start one thing and follow what everyone was doing and then moved on when the job was finished.

Now she was there staring at him and he didn't have much time to work on the radio. He gave a slight smile and replied, "You know you're right but I'm working on a short time table. I need to know if my adjustments work."

Ryan studied Hawkins with a look that was similar to how Sari would study something she wasn't sure of. She knew that Hawkins had been helpful; she had seen him running around and offering advice about what to do about the radiation that could occur from the fallout rain. "You know you don't have to talk to me like I'm six."

"I'm not," Hawkins replied as he continued to work. "I can see that you are an intelligent girl for your age."

"You know that radio is pretty beat up. How can you be sure you can get a signal?"

Hawkins would rather work in peace but he knew that the girl wouldn't go away until she was satisfied with the answers she was given. He had to exert patience since he wasn't too good at dealing with kids. A benefit was that this one was very intelligent and could follow an adult conversation if she needed to. "You know about radio waves? Well they're everywhere and I need to fix it so it can pick up one."

Ryan studied Hawkins. There was something about him and she was sure her sister had ran into him some time within the last twenty-four hours. She got the feeling that he would rather be alone and that she was probably going to get bare surface answers. "Okay. I'm going now. Make sure you get into a shelter Mr. Hawkins."

"Will do," Hawkins replied as he watched the girl leave. He went back to work on the radio.

~0~0~

"Eric, what the hell are you doing?" Jake looked at his brother. He couldn't believe that he was going to turn away all these people. They needed a shelter and now. "What do you mean they can't come in here?"

"We're packed," Eric replied. He tried not to make a face as Sari joined him. There was no doubt she was going to back Jake on this.

"We've got a busload full of people Eric," Sari said in a calm voice. "They need shelter. Where are they supposed to go?" She didn't like the situation either. She knew that if they overdid the capacity to the shelter, they could suffocate people. She once had to ride in a Humvee with dead and wounded and that was an experience that was…

The trio turned towards April who was shouting at Eric about turning the people away. "You're gonna turn away your wife?"

Eric went to talk to April leaving Sari and Jake alone. Sari ran a hand through her hair. She said, "This is bad JJ. Over capacity is not good."

"I know Sari. What other choice we have?" Jake was trying to figure something else out.

"It's just a matter of getting these people into a place that will be protected by the rain with a sealable entrance. I just…" Sari looked around as she rubbed her head while her fingers carded her hair. "We need a working ventilation system."

Eric glanced at Gray and then at April and said, "We can take ten and I saved a spot for you."

Jake heard and jumped on it, "Alright the ten most critical. Fast." He then had an idea and turned towards Gray. "Gray, the salt mine. How many people will it hold?" He hobbled towards the steps of town hall.

"As many as you want. But I don't think it…"

"It has a ventilation system right?" Jake needed to know. This was probably their one last option.

"Yeah and water," Gray admitted.

"That seems like the best option we have now," Sari said. She had been listening to the conversation. Yeah a mine would have a ventilation system especially if the tunnels extended far below the ground. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard that Gail was looking for Johnston and Gray revealed that the people from the church came a while back. She looked around worriedly. She wasn't the only one to notice that Johnston hadn't been looking well.

"Jake, take your people to the salt mine," Eric replied after taking charge of the situation and reassuring Gail that they would find Johnston.

Sari took a breath and schooled her features as she would when going on a mission. She had to be strong for the people that were in hers and Jake's care. She gave a brief smile to Heather as she helped her back into her seat and got into the driver's seat. She heard that Gray and Shep were coming along so that freed up two more spaces for critically injured. She turned on the engine as Jake hobbled up and gave a nod. "Walk in the park JJ," she said as she shifted the gears to get ready to go.

She drove and tried to be mindful of the patients in the bus. She knew that it would hard with the dirt road. She kept muttering to herself and then reassured the passengers to hang on. She winced when she saw Heather wince especially after crashing through the gates of the salt mine. There really was no time to be too gentle. She had seen the clouds as well as Jake.

It seemed like a bottleneck when Gray announced that he could only get twelve down on the elevator at a time. She shook her head but it was the best that she could do. Meanwhile Jake spoke to Shep about sealing the mine. She overheard the word explosion. That would seal the mine and keep the rain from pouring in. It sounded like the best thing. She was surprised when Jake came and asked, "You know how to set charges?"

"Basics," she had replied. That was the truth. She knew basics and her technical expert had been a wizard.

"I need your help."

Sari started rigging the charges while Jake spoke to Eric about Johnston and if they found him. He also relayed that they would need a crew to dig them out. Jake knew that it sounded absurd but he was firm and told them to dig them out. He then went with Shep to start rigging up the explosives. He saw that Sari was already up on the rafters and rigging the sticks of dynamite that Gray had handed her. He joined her.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

Jake looked down at Heather as he took some dynamite from Shep since they didn't want to cause a cave in. He replied, "I knew a guy once."

"Did you blow him up?" Heather looked up.

Jake glanced back down at her and gave a slight chuckle. Sari from her place said, "No but he did learn to sing at a higher octave."

Heather couldn't help but chuckle as she went past them. She was interested in Jake and she liked Sari. She got the feeling that being in their hands was probably the best thing that these people could ever hope for.

_I think they killed the sheriff…_

Sari heard the voice as well as Jake and she was down in a flash. She had promised that she would keep an eye out for Emily and she aimed to keep it. Besides she head clearly that there were two armed men that had probably killed the sheriff. It occurred to her that they might have been from the prison bus that they had seen before.

Jake was first to the radio and tried raising her. He looked at Sari who was waiting expectantly and gave her a look. She nodded in return and turned towards Shep, "Shep give me your keys."

"You guys can't make it. The rain's about to start."

Jake looked up at Shep, "We'll make it. Give her the keys."

Shep acquiesced and gave the keys to Sari. He had seen her drive and he could say that she would be able to make it on time. Besides they wouldn't have a bus load full of people with them. Meanwhile Gray said, "You two are out of your minds."

Jake and Sari ignored Gray's comment. Jake told Gray to get everyone back into the mine while Sari went up. Jake took the roll of wire that was connected to the generator and followed her up. He only turned when Gray told him to wait and pulled out a gun and tossed it to Jake.

Jake caught it and looked at Gray. "When everybody's down, say 'all clear'."

Sari was already by the truck and she was checking the clip to a Beretta. She looked at Jake as he came with the wire. "Gave Gray the word?"

"Yeah," Jake replied as he set the detonator. He noticed the gun, "Didn't notice you were packing."

"Borrowed it," Sari replied as she looked at Jake. She did borrow it when she poked in Shep's glove compartment. She had regretted leaving her own at home but this was Jericho and she hadn't really thought about the need for it.

Jake accepted it. It didn't matter since their priority was to seal the mine and then get to the Richmond farm. He rigged up the detonator and waited for the signal. It was an agonizing wait and he only got more agitated.

_We're all clear._

Jake didn't waste a moment. He turned the detonator and the explosives went off. It was a good detonation and that meant that the mine was sealed. They could get on the road towards the Richmond farm. Jake moved around to the passenger side since the truck's engine was roaring and Sari was behind the wheel.

Sari had gotten in the moment Jake turned the detonator. She had the engine on and ready to go. She waited until Jake got around to the passenger side and said, "Go."

Shifting gears, Sari drove and headed for the gate that they had mowed over earlier. She gunned the engine and sped off down the dirt road. Her eyes were forward and narrowed as she put the pedal to the metal as well as she could go. She knew the back ways and through ways as well as Jake. She would make it to the Richmond farm. "We'll make it JJ."

"I know."

~0~0~

Gail looked everywhere for Johnston. He hadn't been found in the church since those people had already come to the shelter. Eric had checked the offices and was looking in other places. There were only so many places that he could be. She checked his office once again with Hawkins and called his name. They had already checked but she had to look again. She looked in his office and sighed in defeat.

"Gail."

Gail heard the whisper. She went to look behind the desk and as soon as she saw what she saw she exclaimed, "Oh my God."

She ran to her husband bent over to look at him. She screamed, "Mr. Hawkins!" She wasn't sure how many times she screamed his name but it felt like a life time.

Hawkins had gone to look again when he heard the screams. He ran up the stairs to find the mayor on the ground and his wife muttering. The mayor was unconscious and he didn't look good. He needed medical help and fast.

* * *

**A/N:** The final countdown until the storm comes. Looks like Sari has a flashback to Saffa and a few other problems emerge. Stay tuned for more Forces Collide.


End file.
